French style – whether it’s fits, furniture or trinkety things – is the definition of chic. But you won’t find the best gems in mega-chain stores or fast fashion shops: you’ll find them with a good old rummage in a flea market.
As you’d expect, Paris is full of flea markets, and it can be tricky to decipher which are the biggest, best and when they’re all trading – that’s why we’ve just updated our brilliant roundup.
So, what’s our favourite flea market in Paris? It’s Marché aux Puces de St-Ouen! But calling it just a market wouldn’t really be fair. As our Paris writer Alix Leridon puts it, ‘Marché aux puces de Saint-Ouennot … is like a whole other world.’
This place is pretty huge – and famous, too (it features in Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris). Marché aux Puces de St-Ouen actually comprises twelve covered markets and five different shopping streets, spread over no less than seven hectares.
Dauphine Market is the biggest of the bunch, and is also arguably the prettiest and most eclectic (so head here if you’re browsing and not after anything specific). It’s nestled under the glass roof of the main hall, and to find it look out for Futuro House (the massive, orange saucer-shaped spaceship thing).
This place has been open since 1991, and today is home to around 150 different sellers. You’ll find seventeenth and eighteenth-century antiques alongside stalls selling vinyls, prints and clothes.
If you’re book-shopping, head to the Passage – that’s the place to be for rare editions and retro copies of classic works and lovely art books, as well as enough postcards to fulfill your wildest collector dreams.
But there’s plenty more than that to explore at this super-flea. Have a read about it in more detail on our page here.
Check out our roundup of the best flea markets in Paris.
Did you see the incredible 2,500-mile train tour of France that’s launching in September?
Plus: This is officially the best cheap hotel in Paris right now.
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