I Don't Think Any Fleas Came Home with Us - Saturday, 29 October

This afternoon we hit a couple of the 14 sub-markets and a few of the 1,700 merchants in the Marchés aux Puces at Saint-Ouen, the large flea market just inside the peripherique on the north end of town (the closest Métro stop is Porte de Clignancourt). You could spend weeks just peeking in each of the vendors' stalls and getting lost among the 10 miles of outdoor and indoor alleys and passages. And then there are the temporary, more "junky" market booths just to the south of the official flea market (where you can actually find some fun stuff too, as we did!).

It is really hard to describe this place - the range and variety and quality of the merchandise is mind boggling - whether you want silver, furniture, porcelain, tapestry, toys, ephemera, clothing, garden statues, marble fireplaces, giant mirrors, artwork, glassware, linens, chandeliers, leather, beads, cookware, jewelry, clocks, or pretty much "whatever," you can probably find it here. I did manage to pick up a few little things!

If I owned an apartment in Paris I would go here to find my furnishings. Heck, maybe I should just get rid of all of my furniture at home, come here to buy new stuff, and have it shipped to me!

I only took one photo here, of a couple very cool Ginko-leaf-shaped lamps (the bulbs were behind the leaves) and a very cool chair (sorry for the bad reflection from the shop window).

But you can read more about the market here: http://marcheauxpuces-saintouen.com/3en.aspx