Puces Flea Market

Puces, the French term for “Flea” (as in market) is anything but… with price tags typically ending in multiple zeros. But this market of markets found at the end of the Pink (4) Metro line Porte de Clignancourt is worth the visit if you love vintage shopping. There are fifteen markets in total, spilling across streets and laneways each with its own theme.

It would be advantageous to own a shipping company as most anything you fall in love with is unlikely to fit in your luggage. We discovered an old French railway sleeper trolley that would have made an amazing coffee table but the price to ship was more than the table (remember my multiple zeros comment!).

We thought we might have found an innovative solution to our shipping/shopping problem. The Paul Bert market is known for its vintage suitcases and we found a store selling Louis Vuitton steamer trunks.

We tried to make the business case for buying the trunk, being able to pack all our additional shopping inside and take advantage of being able to carry extra luggage for free thanks to my FF miles. A few flaws in that calculation, most notably for the price there was no way in hell we were letting the Thai airways baggage collectors anywhere near it!

Another flaw in our plan was the empty weight of the trunk given that a single bag these days should weigh no more than 24kg, most of the weight allowance was taken up by the trunk.

It sure looks pretty though, maybe to be re purposed as that coffee table now that it is retired from active duty.

http://www.marcheauxpuces-saintouen.com/1en.aspx