Off to the Puces: Paris Flea Market Cheat Sheet

Bewitched by kitsch? Join the rave. Throughout the year, the City of Light stays retro active with weekend flea markets, along with open-air and tented pop-up bazaars. With so many venues, where to start? Here’s a Paris treasure hunt guide.

Meet the fleas: The infamous rag and bone pickers (forerunners of today’s dumpster divers) got the puces party jumping in the late 19th century. Two favorites still exist: Marché aux Puces de la Porte de Vanves and Marché aux Puces de Saint-Ouen (a.k.a. Clignancourt).

1. Marché aux Puces de la Porte de Vanves
Métro: Porte de Vanves

If you’ve only got time to visit one Parisian flea market, this is the one. With its bustling vibe, it’s impossible not to feel happy-go-lucky here. There’s even a piano player! Pirouetting straight to the point: the treasures are eclectic and affordable, and the dealers are friendly and fun.

Puces de la Porte de Vanves: I spy

You’ll find everything from plastic key chains, perfume bottles, bolts of fabric, and vinyl records, to ice buckets, ashtrays, and bottle openers, all sporting logos of French bar classics like Suze, Ricard, and Picon. You might also uncover old medical leech jars, shrunken heads, or even genuine Old Masters — stageprop perfect for Antiques Roadshow.

Puces de la Porte de Vanves: What to buy

Keep your peepers peeled for lightweight winners like antique illustrations, magazines, postcards, buttons, lace, powder boxes, and cartes de visite (photographic calling cards) — the 19th-century version of Facebook. Take heed: Collect but one, and you may want the entire lot. A favorite carte de visite stall is kitty corner to the piano player. Follow the music!

Puces de la Porte de Vanves: Tips

Look for bargain tables with hand-written all-one-price signs. This strategy once scored me some fab ski pants from the Sixties in tangerine, mustard, and turquoise, with original tags still a-dangling, and for just one euro.

A gentle warning: the Porte de Vanves market is sweet but short: 9 am to noon both Saturday and Sunday are the peak hours. By 1 pm most dealers are packed up and gone.

2. Marché aux Puces de Saint-Ouen
Métro: Porte de Clignancourt

Here’s where Chef Julia Child bought her first antique mortar and pestle “about the size and weight of a baptismal font,” she wrote. “One look at it, and I knew there was no question: I just had to have that set!” That very mortar and pestle is now at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. “Everything has a history!” as Julia would say.

Puces de Saint-Ouen: I spy

The market still has a certain Proustian charm, meshing past and present. It’s also photogenic, rain or shine, and the perfect place for more than a few existentialist Instagram moments with your inner-flâneur. After sipping a beer at Le Paul Bert, strike out on a slow roll through the labyrinth of shacks and tents, chockfull with the faded gilded and gloriously gritty.

Puces de Saint-Ouen: What to buy

Finding bargains at Saint-Ouen can be a challenge. But with a little quill power, what about some vintage postcards? Or a vintage fashion magazine? Never more than a few euros, these feather-light souvenirs won’t tip any airport luggage scale. Check out Caveyron Devey in the Passage Lecuyer.

Puces de Saint-Ouen: Tips

At Caveyron Devey, the old postcards are meticulously organized by genre. Looking for something specific? Cats? Circuses? Just ask. Also, if offered a seat at their table to paw through a box, take them up on it. You’ll look like a real aficionado and your feet will thank you. Got a vintage fashion fetish? Visit the nearby clothing stalls.

3. The Pop-ups

Scattered around Paris are temporary brocantes (dealer-run antique sales) and vide-greniers where the neighborhood locals empty their closets. Recent finds include pink Valentino heels, Charles Jourdan boots in noir, and Ted Lapidus hexagonal sunglasses, none for more than 20 euros. You’ll also spy gently used scarves, hats, and Catherine Deneuve-worthy trench coats — but without their usual exorbitant price tags.

Here are a few more tips for the road.

Plan of Action

Have a “quest” in mind. Previsualization helps narrow the hunt while increasing your chances of finding the object of your desire. What’s missing from your closet? Ballet slippers? A striped Breton sailor shirt? Both are timeless French classics. Need a showstopper for the house? Old maps, chalkware cats, mannequins, mounted beetles, or absinthe glasses offer charmed vintage at its best. Grab a pen and make your wish list.

Be Prepared

Before setting out, consider your shopping kit: comfortable shoes, water bottle, Métro tickets, maps with the markets circled, maybe a folding umbrella. Don’t forget a sturdy bag for your finds, available at almost any grocery store for just a few cents. They make perfect souvenirs, too. Also, do carry cash, since many dealers don’t accept credit cards. Just keep it on you in a safe place. And keep your wits about you, too — that person nudging next to you at the stall may be more interested in what’s in your bag than what is on the table. No need to stress about it, but do be aware.

Getting around

Time is precious but it’s possible to visit both of these fleas and even a few brocantes in one day. Just get on the bus, Gus. For the price of a Métro ticket, you can spend a weekend morning at Porte de Vanves, then hop on the 95 bus for a ride all the way to Saint-Ouen at its final stop. No need to keep track of the stops — everyone gets off at the end. Just rest your feet and gloat over your early successes as the whole fantastic panorama of Paris rolls by. Forty-five minutes later, you’ll be ready to hit the ground running once more.

Happy Hunting!