it’s your call
hey guys, comment ça va?
i’m reposting an article i wrote for parisien salon and wanted to share it and a little something else too. i’m at the airport about to take off for paris. we have a great group coming and i’ll try to post some of the details each night. in the meantime, i just wanted to say that the reason this article exists and that linda donahue of parisien salon has become a friend (we’re sharing the apartment)! is because, as a fellow blogger, she simply picked up the phone and asked to have coffee. we met and it was friends at first sight. we’ve had a regular sunday brunch for the past year and now i’ve got a column on her site i’m excited to write! in fact she pushed me to write an article on the maison objet for tomorrow so i’ll keep you posted. she’s even the one who told me what an APP was when i had never heard of them!
i better run but wanted to say that if you have a blogger near you, reach out and touch her, you never know what will happen! here’s the article, thanks for the opportunity, LD, see you on the other side!
Bringing Parisian Style Home from the Fleas
Because I hang out at flea markets in Paris, I tend to hear the same comments over and over from American tourists, yet it never ceases to amaze me:
Men: “There’s nothing but old junk here.”
Women: “There are no bargains in Paris anymore.”
Nothing could be further from the truth. These people are just scanning the surface, not honing in on the delicious layers that create the Paris flea markets.
Truth is, it’s impossible to go to a Paris flea market and not find a one of a kind, museum-quality trinket for 1euro.
In fact, you could shop any of the flea markets in one weekend and furnish your entire home as if it were a château or a cottage en Provence for next to nothing.
Basically, the flea markets are the treasure chests of the world, brimming with everything from entire paneled rooms to a century old diary. The trick is finding the bargains, then getting them home. C’est simple!
What to look for:
It’s easy to stroll by a table and dismiss it but there’s a lot more to a dealer’s wares than meets the eye. In fact, I’m willing to say that almost every vendor has something uniquely special if you look very close. It may be the size of a button, but it’s there. At all markets, there are two kinds of vendors. Those who practice the art of display and lovingly curate their collection, and those who don’t.
How to find it:
You can find good deals with either type, but those who don’t are generally more interested in sales volume than what the actual item is. Sure, they may know a set of dishes is Limoges or the silverware is sterling, but they don’t take the time to clean them because they’d just rather move it. If you’re on the hunt then get down and and dig in.
Paris fleas aren’t like ours where a box of kitchen junk is filled with Tupperware. In Paris a box of junk may have iron candlesticks, antique serving trays and letters from the 1700s.
If you just want a souvenier or memento, check a dealer’s tiny boxes they have on the table. You never know what can turn up, from a monogrammed stamp with your initials to embroidered pillowcases, a love letter or a locket.
How to buy it:
Bargaining is acceptable in any market around the world and France is no exception. If you make an offer, just be respectful. Flea marketers are hard working people who travel to find unusual things, clean, repair and research them. They haul out, unpack, and face the elements each weekend to bring this magic right to you!
You’re bound to fall in love in Paris, so why fight it? But what you fall in love with will determine how to get it home. If it’s furniture, you’ll need a shipper, so I recommend a to visit Clignancourt before all other markets. And the shippers are all there so you can so you can visit a few and see what services they offer. It’s a good place to start cause it’s the mecca of markets you’ll never see it all.
Some deliver door to door and others drop at a port and you pick it up. See what works best for you). You’ll set up an account for free and get book of receipts. When you buy something, the dealer will write out his information on one of the copies and deliver it to the shipper. You’ll give the shipper your book to confirm those and any items you’d like picked up. Then you can pay when it’s all been collected. Strange as it is, a ‘hold’ is often as good as a ‘sold’ cause you can work things on a handshake. Just be sure to honor it!
Once you have a shipper, you’ll have an account number and can tell vendors at other markets where to deliver your gems for consolidation without hesitation.
Clignancourt is open Fridays and Mondays till 1pm and all weekend till about 6pm.
For shippers, I recommend Camard or Hedley’s in the center of Cligancourt.
Of course shipping furniture can add a bit to the cost so negotiate that in when you’re bargaining and always ask for the price ‘pour export’.
Shippers charge by cubic meter, so if you have an armoire, you’re free to fill it with all your goodies from linens to chandeliers.
Finally, forget your misconceptions about shipping; That you need to fill a container, that it’s expensive, there are taxes…once you get past the unknown a new world opens up. You may just find yourself with a brand new hobby.
Bon shopping!
Do you have a question about flea market style for Claudia Strasser? Send your questions to claudia@parisiensalon.com, and you may find it answered in a future column.
www.parisiensalon.com/2010/07/bringing-parisian-style-home-from-the-fleas
PS: someone did ask a good question!
Our first question comes from Kevin of Tempe, Arizona.
I live in the U.S. and am wondering if the dealers at the flea markets in Paris, particularly Puces de Vanves, charge taxes on the purchases?
Claudia says:
The answer is no, official tax is not charged on top of the price negotiated for the item. The dealer is responsible for his taxes and builds that into his cost. Items that are over 100 years old are considered antiques and are not taxable.
On the other hand, if you’re shipping something back to the States that’s not over 100 years old, you’re subject to the duties and taxes that the U.S. ascribes. How they calculate it remains a mystery on so many levels. So if you’re buying antiques, ask the dealer for a ‘Circa’ date and have him or her write it on the receipt.
When your items come in by sea or air, a customs broker will call to ask you to fill out a form stating the age of your items. If they’re under 100 years old, the customs broker will give you your tax and duties total based on the Harmonized Tariff Schedule. You can try to decipher it yourself but just like a good lawyer, a good customs broker will help you to determine your tax bracket.
To learn a little more about it, you can visit this link: http://www.usitc.gov/tata/hts/bychapter/index.htm
Do you have a question related to the Paris flea markets, or any other home design in Paris questions? Send an email to Claudia@parisiensalon.com. Photo by One and Only Paris Photography.
a girl’s gotta eat
bonjour guys! i hope you’re having a good weekend and enjoying the summer days. i’m leaving monday and putting together itineraries and getting the details set for the group. it occurred to me that i keep writing the same things over and over every year and get asked for all sorts of lists, one being recommendations for cafes and restaurants in paris. i try not to go to a place twice with so many choices but these are actually some of my faves that i do seem to gravitate toward. i figure the blog is as good a place as any to start keeping track, and this way you can enjoy them too. some of them have super cute websites so dig in and bon apetitit!
le comptoir
you can’t make a reservation but if you get here early you’ll get a seat, otherwise there will be a line. the food is amazing! great photos here
paris-paris-paris.com/paris_city_guide/where_to_eat_timeout_paris/comptoir_du_relais
le square trusseau
l’avenue restaurant, one of the costes brothers’ fabulous restos
hotel costes
a MUST, good for an afternoon lunch or late night drink, make a reservation
COSTES LE RESTAURANT, 239 RUE SAINT HONORE, PARIS 1, +33 1 42 44 50 25
le train bleu, t’s in a train station but WOW!
www.le-train-bleu.com/uk/index.php
le procope has been around since the 1600s. it could be the oldest restaurant in paris and is a walk back in time. photo from here
marly cafe in the louvre, photo from here
www.restaurant-in-france.com/gourmet-guide/cafe-marly-restaurant.php
le crillon
just for fun, high tea is great on the patio. photo from here:
crillon.concorde-hotels.com/en/dining/dining.aspx
le dame brune, casual but uber fun crowd and owners, oh and fantastic food!
le pin up
chez janou, it’s always packed and kind of tucked away but worth the visit. make a reservation.
cafe baci
www.caffebaci.com
ps if you have a fave, let me know and i’ll add to this list!
the timeless energy of a place
hi guys, hope you’re having a good week. i’ve been laying low trying to tie up loose ends before heading back to paris in 5 days. i guess you never really finish tying those ends and it’s really just one of life’s little jokes. everyday there are new strings so it’s sort of pointless and i’m just going to give in to it, otherwise i’ll never get to more creative stuff like writing.
i only realized this just now as i promised to announce a blogger meet up for a very special rendez-vous while en paris.
i’m heading to the maison objet with a couple pals and am really excited to meet fellow bloggers vicki archer of french essence and sande chase of a gift wrapped life. we’ve been trying to get together for years and are finally going to make it happen, and you’re invited too!
the girls have set up a meeting at cafe deux magots:
i have to admit i’ve been there a couple times and always thought it was a bit of a tourist trap but searching for an old photo of it tonight, i realized just how much beauty, history and art has come from these walls.
all of these shots are from the cafe, taken by various photographers in different years, but all with the same outcome. pure magic.
i can’t wait to meet you, ladies, and hope we make some magic of our own! if you’re going to be in paris, or live there (martha, erica, madelyn) i hope you can come!
check out this link for other great old shots of classic paris cafes and have a bonne nuit, cher amis!
not in the mood
hi guys! i hope you had a great weekend. i tackled an overflowing inbox and it sapped pretty much all my energy and put me in a funk i haven’t quite shaken. i’m hoping my attitude will be less like this above
and more like this by morning!so we all know the best way to break a mood is to do a little soul surfing on the web. i ran across photog frank horvat’s work in san fran and fell in love with his odd slices of life. i often wonder how the old photographers were able to capture such incredible moments with crude equipment and one shot at the shot. the quote on his website hit home with ‘photography is the art of not pushing the button’.
such random settings! i love this one below shot at les halles.
so i’m getting ready for another trip to gay paree, this time for the maison et objet and shopping the fleas with clients. while i’m there i hope to work on a project about renting real apartments in paris and will be staying with paris perfect.
it’s a great company, owned by a wonderful couple (she’s american, he’s french). i’m not sure which apartment we’re in yet but each has a view of the eiffel tower so that’s a pretty good start. friends of mine are coming too so it will be a fun slumber party with my college roomie, mb, (her hubs surprised her with a ticket for her birthday and it’s her first time in paris! i want to be a good hostess and show her the sights but hope my sights are the ones she wants to see too. luckily she’s into good food and cooking so we’ll no doubt hit the food markets and blow her mind. what do you think is crucial? i’m biased)!
my other girl, linda of parisien salon is coming too and the two of them have wicked senses of humor so it’s going to be a laugh fest if nothing else.
i’ve toured madelyn’s apartments before and they’re all beautifully decorated and have good hi tech gadgets.
i’ll be there from the 1-9th, if you are too, let me know, i’ll be meeting up with other bloggers for a couple fun events and would love to rendezvous with you too!
ok well, this is apparently a fantastic tv night so off i go for an evening of guilty pleasures. i’m putting down the computer and going to do nothing but channel surfing for the rest of the night. have a good one too!
up one side and down the other
hi guys! it’s been a whirlwind summer and truth be known, i’m slightly exhausted and am only now going through the pics i just couldn’t bear to deal with while on the road. you bloggers know what i’m talking about. it’s all fun and games taking the shots but editing, resizing, balancing, cropping, and sorting can take all the joy out of it!
so tonite’s the night. my new goal is to do things in real time cause it’s just not the same when you wait, you know?
anyway, going thru it all i remember how much i love californians who let the ÜbeR foliage grow wild even when it’s trimmed.
totally random non sequitor but in san fran i thought it would be fun to start sending stuff from paris to different collectives, starting with this one, past perfect.
they have two locations and happen to have a space available.
actually the shopping there was amazing, with everything from lighting to big furniture.
this is the space they have open:
so changing gears, cause i could stay on cali for another 10 posts but the weekend took us back across the country to a weekend wedding in lake george. i’ve never spent time there but it was an another incredible hotel and the wedding was of course spectacular.
and i have to give them props for the foliage at the sagamore hotel
and though i couldn’t capture the beauty of the centerpeices, they used champagne grapes tucked in with the flowers and it was absolutment charmant!
on the way out i had to stop by the villa marie antoinette antique shop but it was closed.
still there was enough eye candy to amuse me and the staggering beauty of the architecture in our very own country never ceases to amaze me. there’s much to see and do. what a world!
we took the long way home and stopped at little towns along the way like saratoga and woodstock which were as pretty as anything we’d seen yet.
but i have to draw the line somewhere and just say ‘when’! besides i don’t need to bore you with my vacation shots but do want to remember these last couple weeks. it seems like a recurring theme to make sure the memories don’t get stuffed in a folder along with the pics and i’m grateful for blogging to give me that incentive to do more than just let the days pass by. hope you’re having a great summer and making memories you’ll always remember too. have a fabulous weekend!
a walk to the palace
hi everyone, happy friday! hope you’re getting ready for a great summer weekend. i’m on a five hour road trip to lake george for a wedding and it’s just getting to be the golden hour so i can’t stay too long but just wanted to continue going thru the sf pics. part of my vow to be more disciplined with both my pics and remembering good days.
i’m trying to go thru one folder a day and today’s is the palace which was a nice surprise on a walk to breakfast.
we went in through what must have been the side door cause even though i had heard it was special, i wasn’t prepared for how magnificent it really was.
the approach was low key
but even a peek into a window revealed we were about to enter another universe
the ceiling literally took my breath away. partly cause i didn’t expect it, but also for its delicate beauty, knowing who created it and the struggles they faced. (this was re-built after the 1906 fire). and made with nothing special, just imagination and sheer will. not knowing if it would happen again, but faith that it wouldn’t and not compromising their art.
buy holy cow do they need a decorator?! i would love to pitch that!
just across the way is a knockout entry with an enormous bouquet of red roses. well, that almost makes up for the furniture! ok i better go, i’m being a terrible co-pilot! xc
the napa folder
i guess i kind of made a vow to myself to get here every day for the foreseeable future. it’s a great escape from the inbox and lets me relive last week. i just came across our day in napa and if i don’t go thru it now, i never will.
it’s our second or third time coming up (for work)!
all our days have started with breakfast at the bouchon bakery in yountville.
i was playing with my new camera, can you tell?!
of course napa was exquisite.
we stopped by a couple wineries but none compared to the robinson family vineyards. of all the places we’ve ever gone, this was by far my favorite. we met the proprietor, tom, and felt like we were at a friend’s house.
their entire business is small and intimate and everyone is involved from his daughters (who created a killer red called ‘great legs’), to the grandkids.
in fact, in season he says everyone comes over and they have a grand old time making wine. he said lots of guests turn friends and come up just for that. anyway, if you’re heading up there i highly recommend a visit for a really special experience and the best red we had in napa!
the cherry on top was a picnic lunch in their beautiful backyard. that was a fun day.
the rest are just some random napa shots. i’m still getting used to the camera but having the different art filters is making taking them more fun. ok back to the grindstone! xoc
places i’ve been with lynn
wow i can’t believe the day flew by. what a whirlwind and it’s 2am. since life is moving faster than light right now, blogging seems to be the way to reign it in and not let great days go by. working on the pics is turning into a nighttime meditation after a full day. in sf i couldn’t bring myself to post, i was so exhausted! looking at the pics now i remember why! everyday was jam packed. this was one of those great days. lynn picked me up on saturday morning and we arrived bright and early for an outskirts auction. it didn’t look like much at first glance but there were a lot of fantastic pieces tucked into nooks and crannies.
lynn got this old painting
and we both loved this portfolio of all things.
and she wanted this goyard trunk but it went really high
i always look for vanities and loved both of these
finding the pioneer gear is incredible, so much history in a hat.
(i promise to get the name of the auction and details tomorrow). our next stop was an hour away to petaluma. it’s a lively couple of streets in an old fashioned all american town. oh and the best part is that it’s full of great antique shopping in 4 or 5 collectives!
this old bank was our first stop. there are three floors and lots of little rooms to explore.
down the street is her favorite place, again i’ll get the deets tomorrow for you. it was filled with great old signs, big harvest tables and styled beautifully!
i would love to get this for lorraine
a collective across the street had 3 more floors of at least 50 dealers.
iand the one next to that…
i could go on but there’s only one thing left to say tonight. we didn’t take pics and we didn’t leave the hotel, but it was just as magical. i had the pleasure to have had tea at the hotel with none other than melissa of reverie dreams. she brought her husband sean and daughter gaia and my life will never be the same! they’re the most beautiful trio you’d ever want to meet and i hope you do one day get to experience the joy that’s them! mel, i hope it’s ok i used this photo, it captures these two perfectly.
oh it’s late, ok gotta shut down, bonne nuit!
i can’t let go
hi guys! i got to ny on the red eye and am taking tonite to pretend i’m still in sf. and if i don’t go thru these pics right now, they’ll sit in a folder for the rest of my life!
when i was outside the fairmont, there was a lot going by!
i started practicing using my camera and testing its tricks on the fly
i love this city more than ever. it’s got fresh air and beauty everywhere you look.
ok, more soon, buona notte!
it would take many lifetimes
when i got to this hotel i had no idea how much of our time in sf would be devoted to it! now i see why the show ‘hotel’ in the 70s was centered around this incredible place! around every corner is more intrigue, history and glory like the tiny vanderbilt in pink and blue above and below.
anyway, from my trip to see some of the ballrooms, i met jessica, one of the kids in charge of running the place who really got my love of the old nooks and crannies. she was gracious enough to give me a tour of the penthouse which was an unexpected treat.
this is just a small sampling of the magnificent floor:
since john’s in food, she introduced us to their hip executive chef (unfortunately i think i erased the photos)! he showed us some of the projects he’s working on, like creating all the hotel’s honey (he put beehives on the roof), and adding sustainable gardens which will grow all the hotel’s herbs and vegetables! fairmont.com/sanfrancisco bee hives
and i didn’t see jessica this morning but wanted to thank her for the invitation yesterday to see the sf ballet in the park. it was a real treat and something we wouldn’t have seen if not for her ongoing hospitality!
so, that will have to do it for my little obsession today as we’re packing up and heading out. i look at this photo above (dorothy draper’s incarnation of the lobby, thanks lynn) and think of the young cool crew that’s handling it now. they’re set to remodel the laurel court restaurant which still has the old school feel but with who’s in charge i know they’ll do a great job preserving it. more soon!
the fairest of them all
hi guys! i can’t believe it’s actually been an entire week since i’ve had a chance to post about this trip to san francisco. even as i write this it’s rushed. lynn is about to pick me up again for another morning of foggy fun and although i got up early to write, it’s dwindling fast and my connection is slow. still i’m determined that before i see another thing or take another shot i’d say hello and nip the tip of this iceberg of a city!
our home for the past week has been the fairmont hotel at the top of nob hill. (yes virgina, they do have affordable rooms)! it’s been an incredible experience as a history buff and lover of all things old and grand.
the gold dining room in the teens above and today below
the detail is stunning.
this grand dame has seen it all. there is no way to squeeze it all into this short time but the hotel halls are lined with ephemera and photos, old menus and archives from breaking ground to the earthquake to the fire to the resolve to rebuild. just being here is humbling, knowing what the early settlers went through to create this splendor, revel in its glory and see it destroyed. their strength to regroup and rebuild, not knowing if it could all just crumble again is mind boggling.
yet they did it without hesitation, living in tents, carrying supplies uphill, in chilly fog, without bathrooms, heat, electricity or phones.
the more i learn about san franciscans and the pioneers who created this masterpiece of a city brick by brick the more in awe i am.
these men and women are unsung heroes whose names are forgotten but their work lives on.
the ballroom was used in the relief efforts after the quake. it is such a grand room, i’m sure they were beyond grateful it was spared. it must have been strange to live and work in such contrast but they did it. twice!
i’m dying to get into the archives of the hotel. the shot above is from one of the many incarnations the lobby has had over the years. i would have killed to see this one by dorothy draper. ok she’s here, more soon. hope you’re having a great weekend!
alameda point antiques faire: antiquing by the bay in nor cal
happy monday and greetings again from san fran! i’ve got a nice window before changing hotels and have a little time to post about yesterday’s shopping extravaganza.
my girl lynn picked me up at 5:30 am to hit the once monthly alameda flea market, (aka, antiques by the bay), touted as the largest antique market in cali. the rumors were not greatly exaggerated, it was staggering! it’s held in a vacant, sprawling (like miles big) abandoned naval ship yard. it’s organized in alphabetical rows and each dealer has a number. it’s probably a 1/2 mile wide and goes into double letters. if that’s not enough, there are two michaan’s auctions happening down the road once you leave!
i do find everything in california to be big. the people are larger than life, the foliage, the fleas! my college roomie, mb (above left) and her girl kim knew the drill and met up with us. we were about 10 rows apart for most of the morning they finally caught up to us when lynn and i got sucked into a time warp for at least an hour.
we stumbled onto a stack of the new york times from an old library. they were enormou volumes of the actual papers from the 1920s through 40s. the were so heavy and beautiful, bound in canvas. leafing through them was true time travel.
how approps
you can click to enlarge
quel vie! the stars of broadway: charlie chaplin, clara bow and john barrymore
i could have stayed forever. it was just an eye opener to see in the flesh, in such a tangible way, that some things don’t change.
especially black and white fashions from paris!
the want ads were all consuming!
the empire state building was almost ready for occupancy!
we finally made it out of and back into the light of day. it’s a great market for sellers cause it’s only one day and everyone knows it’s now or never. there’s no contemplation. if you want it, gotta get it cause someone else will if you don’t! going early, everyone was really negotiable and the prices were great. i’ll do another post featuring some of the vendors cause this is a market to visit if the stars are aligned when you’re here.
lynn says there’s an influx of french influence in sf lately and we did see a lot from france.
it’s wild how an entire event is set up in a day and broken down. it’s like magic.
lisa goligtly down in row x sure contributes to the magic. below is her pretty glowing booth. (she turned the lights on but i didn’t take a pic, duh)!
and it’s incredibly organized. you write down your aisle and booth number, pay for your stash and then go get a cart to gather it all up. then someone gets the car and you load up. ikea style.
we decided it’s the ultimate recycling program and it was so much fun to do it with someone so in the know. thanks for the day girl, i’ll treasure it!
by the by, lynn bought the ny times books, (the best ones at that)! so check her site out for them.
ok gotta switch hotels and clients coming in, more soon!
fun by the ton
wow! 24 hours in san fran and it’s already been a whirlwind. i’m going thru pix and had to give props to our very first stop. it was a ‘roaring 20s, sand by the ton’ party hosted by big art studios, an incredible group of artists (our friend is one of them), who create enormous works of art from discarded scrap metal. the pieces are somehow ethereal and so delicate despite their size, rust and components. it was truly awe inspiring! i love california, you never know what you’re going to discover in some airport hangar or what looks like an abandoned warehouse.
these goddesses must have been 100 feet tall. the chains as hair was so creative! anyway it’s getting late and i’m starting to burn out. it was an early morning (5am)! with my girl lynn from paris hotel boutique at the alameda flea and getting in at 4am yesterday is starting to kick in so i’ll say goodnight for tonight! enjoy the rest of the weekend!
