Sunday Brocante -- Deauville

I love to start with a disclaimer!  Here goes:

This week's Sunday Brocante was actually on Saturday -- a 'Samedi Brocante'! This is a group of brocanteurs that I have visited a few times in different towns, so it was an easy decision to shift the schedule and go on Saturday.... the FIRST really gorgeous, very warm, very wonderful SUNNY spring Saturday in Normandy.  Yes! The spring cleaning halted, the weeds in the garden uttered a united sigh of relief, and the beach waited...and waited... and missed me, I hope.

It's only been one week since the launch of the shop on Etsy and Whoa-Nelly!  It's been a lot of hours, photos, organizing, converting (finding out the current euro/dollar exchange--ouch!) and mostly d-r-e-a-m-i-n-g!  I love this--I am truly blissed out!  Searching, finding, creating, dusting-off, and exploring from every angle each day for several hours--it's not so bad....and then the weekend rolls around and it's time to get in the car and see what's next!

So this Sunday Saturday it was a no map required venture to Deauville, just about 15 minutes from home and the hometown of the 'French Guys' parents.  Do you know Deauville?  Ooooh la la!  Tres, tres belle! It's kinda of like Rodeo Drive, the Hamptons and Carmel all wrapped into one!  It's a beach side resort town home to all my fave's (the when-I-win-the-mega-millions-in-all-52-states kind of faves) .... Hermes, Faconnable, Louis Vuitton, Longchamp..... the famous Deauville Casino and the fabulous beach umbrella'd boardwalk....it's lovely...it's tres cher!.......It's, it's, it's.......Whew!  Easy girl!  Step away from the Cartier counter!

Brocantes, brocantes, brocantes...okay, yes.  The brocante was in the 'front yard' of a large church and the sun was shining! (Did I mention that already?  I'm sorry I am a bit fixated on sunshine!) My first find--spotted from 50 yards, was this wonderful bird cage.  It was my favorite find of the day and sold a mere 10 minutes  after I posted it on Sunday Brocantes.....much to my dismay delight!  I wanted to keep it for my very own!

Other finds -- a large wire apple basket, a faded and chipped and so lovely wooden carrying box, another gorgeous demijohn, a vintage kitchen measuring glass.....to name a few!

So enough said, it was a 'superbe'  brocante and I completely blew my budget!  I am so excited to continue taking pictures of the wonderful things I found and get them posted on Etsy!  Thanks for coming along and take a peek to see what's turning up on the site!

Until next weekend -- Bonne semaine les amis!

The Story of Sunday Brocantes

Sometimes it's just a little thing that you were looking for to make it feel more like home!

The story of Sunday Brocantes....

Let's just say I was hooked at a very young age--for the love of 'found' things.  Around the age of 7 or 8 I could be found rummaging carefully looking through the basement at my grandmother's one hundred year old Victorian home in Schnectady, New York.  The basement itself was a scary magical place; dark, musty, cob-webby.....with the only light being a bare bulb fixture dangling from a low beam.  But oh! What treasures!  Old hat boxes filled with odds and ends, old vases and planters, scraps of fabric, small tin containers full of buttons....I would disappear down there for hours before being called to come upstairs for lunch.  I would always find something to sneak into a pocket ask for to take back home; a tiny treasure, an odd little thing to love.

Years later--this love continued.....in college as an art major I was drawn towards three-dimensional design, particularly sculptural pieces created with found-objects.  I once created a piece with a section of a baby's rocking chair, a pointy stiletto, a discarded piece of leopard print fabric and a string of pearls...and loads of glitter as I recall. After I submitted it and received my grade that semester I lost track of it.  Imagine my surprise to see my found-object creation hanging in another student's living room a few years later after I graduated!  Does that make me famous?.....even a little??

As a grown-up bigger kid--I followed my husband (aka 'French Guy') into the antique business...selling period and vintage French furnishings and decor items in the United States.

Now here I am--living with ma famille in France!  I am a writer, a cook, a photographer and an artist dreamer....Still in love with finding things at little flea markets and brocantes to fill my home and enrich my life....pieces that make me appreciate worn and loved beauty and function, objects that have a story....and I am very excited to share them with you!