PARIS, the city of lights
Well, we just returned from our European Buying Tour and it was great! We started in Paris and then on to England find antique treasures. Our group consisted of dealers from the Dallas area, South Texas and Springfield, MO. And of course, me The Cheeky Mare.
The antique buying tour consists of antique shopping in France and England. This winter's adventure took us to the Paris Flea Market as well as England's largest antique fairs - Lincoln Home and Antiques Show and Newark Antique Fair.
Les Puces de Saint-Ouen, but known to everyone as Les Puces (The Fleas) is where we bagin and we found everything from silver to black forest to the highly sought after "industrial" antiques.
The shops at the flea market are a combination of small stalls or pitches and storage units - each dealer opens his unit door the morning of the market and then greets customers. What amazes me is that the storage units can be beautifully decorated and set up while others you must dig through and hope for the best. There are also a number of outside booths set up around streets. No stall is to be ignored - you just don't know what's hidden in these booths.
While the Paris Flea Market is one of the most famous in the world it also has a reputation of being one of the most expensive places to shop. As dealers, we are not always able to find items for resale. BUT, I was extremely excited to find that the prices were reasonable and the entire group was able to buy antiques for resale.
Please check back soon for the photos of France as well as our England Tour info.
Tammy
