Introduction
Begin: Porte de Clignancourt, Line 4 End: Porte de ClignancourtTime: At least two hoursIntroductionIf you hate clutter, noise, and crowds, this walk will be a challenge for you. On the other hand, if you’re a fan of PBS’s Antiques Roadshow, and if you enjoy one-of-a-kind discoveries and a lively atmosphere, you will take pride in learning to navigate the labyrinthine markets of Saint-Ouen. Les Puces de Saint-Ouen (the fleas of Saint-Ouen) boasts over 2,000 shops, making it the largest vendor of antiques in the world. In 2001, the French government classified the zone as a Zone de Protection du Patrimoine Architectural, Urbain et Paysager (Protected Zone of Urban, Countryside, and Architectural Patrimony), making it the first historic area to receive state protection for its unique and historic atmosphere. Unfortunately, most tourists who hear of Les Puces de Saint-Ouen never venture beyond the very first market—an aggressive tourist trap filled with trinkets and t-shirts. This walk will take you beyond the beaten path and will expose you to the wide variety of goods hidden in the alleyways of Saint-Ouen.
#1 Toward the 1st Flea Market
Begin the walk at porte de Clignancourt. As you exit the métro, look for the exit labeled Marché aux Puces (the same exit as rue Belliard and boulevard Ney). As much as I hate to use Kentucky Fried Chicken as a landmark, you can’t miss it. Head past this unfortunate culinary assault on French gastronomy, and keep walking straight toward the first flea market across the street.Avoid stores such as Au marché de la Chaussure. Their aggressive salespeople will make you think you’re up in the Pigalle area (if you don’t know what I mean, count yourself lucky). It’s time to put your game face on.
#2 Marché Vernaison
After you cross rue René Binet, you will pass a stadium on the left. The street ahead of you is boulevard Périphérique. Go under the overpass, cross rue du Professeur Gosset, and you will see rue des Rosiers on an angle to your left. Continue straight on avenue Michelelt, through the vendors, to a sign on your left that indicates Marché Vernaison.Congratulations, you’ve made it to a place where 90 percent of the tourists never set foot! Now you will experience the variety and culture of Saint-Ouen markets. Enjoy the most classic, authentic, and reasonable of the markets. Reasonable, however, is a relative term. Some of the markets you’ll soon visit (such as the marché Biron) will make the marché Vernaison look like a thrift store. The fact is that the days of great bargains at Saint-Ouen are long gone. Your only hope for a steal is the market at the porte de Vanves (listed at the end of this walk). Once you’ve become a seasoned expert in Saint-Ouen, you may go down to the Vanves market on a Saturday morning and find bargains. You'll find that marchéVernaison straddles the line between bric-à-brac and antiques.If something catches your eye and you want to step inside a shop, always remember that it is polite to say Bonjour Madame (Monsieur) and act as if you have just entered their home. In other words, don’t start fumbling through everything like you’re at a yard sale. A good rule of thumb is look but don’t touch (unless you’re serious about an item). Je peux?—Oui, oui, allez-y! will be the typical exchange if you want to move an object, open a book, etc. When leaving, always say Merci, au revoir Madame/Monsieur.A word about the culture of the vendors: Depending on the individual in question, the owners of a flea-market stand (many here own their space; others lease) may possess the characteristics of a museum curator, a fairly benign swindler, or a troll—sometimes all three at once. Like most of the French, they have a love-hate relationship with their clientele. Your questions may be interrupting their game of bridge with the owner of a neighboring stall, or a lunch served on the antique plates they sell. They will take your money, but they prefer a respectful exchange of words (mixed with a few compliments) along with the transaction. Many vendors own separate antique stores that are open during the week and live in nice parts of Paris. If you show respect while you haggle for their best price, you may end up getting unexpected insight into their views on everything from politics to other clients.
#3 Marché Malassis
Wander through the small alley that loops around an area with beautiful chandeliers and furniture—a mere teaser of what is to come in other markets. Head back up the alley opposite the one you came down and exit the market back at rue des Rosiers. After exiting, take the crosswalk to the other side of the street and enter the marché Malassis—a nice place of refuge if it’s raining.The marché Malassis features fine antiques. Think of it as a free museum with a hundred exhibits; like many museums, they discourage photography. You will notice that merchants tend to specialize in certain periods or styles: Empire furniture, art deco, or even furniture from the sixties and seventies. In contrast, one stand in the Vernaison market sells nothing but promotional key chains!
#4 Marché Dauphine
After looping around Malassis, you will exit back on rue des Rosiers again and continue up to the marché Dauphine, another indoor market and one of my favorites.I love to spend time looking through the odd collection of engravings, antique books, and vintage sewing notions at the store halfway down (near the fountain) in the marché Dauphine. I know American decorators who buy cards of vintage buttons with labels such as Paris l’Élégante, frame them, and sell them to wealthy clients. The button/book/notions store seems to welcome browsing more than most.At the end of the alley, you will see a snack bar. Feel free to get a snack, but do not exit or you will find yourself back in the mayhem of the first market.
#5 Jean Ricci
Head through passage Sainte-Sophie between shops 77 and 78. You will see Présents Passés (store 23), which specializes in beautiful old tools. After you head back toward the orange spaceship sculpture, you will see some stairs that head up to Carré des libraires.Before heading up, look at Jean Ricci’s collection of clocks and cameras, two of my favorite collectibles.
#6 Marché Biron
Exit the market, and cross to the other side of rue des Rosiers to the marché Biron at Number 85.Enter the marché Biron and look in the window of the very first store on the right (Jane Moufflet) to see vintage posters worth a small fortune—your first sign that this is not a market for bargain hunting. By the time you pass Number 9 with its enormous chandeliers or Number 13 with its gilded furniture, you’ll understand that not all flea markets are created equal. Having worked with curators specializing in design, I can tell you that many museums would love to acquire the objects sold in this market. Window-shopping is free, and so is imagining what you would bring home if you could. (Hmm . . . I believe that Louis XVI console would look lovely next to the IKEA bookshelf in my apartment. . . .) Notice that shop 78 on your left stands out as a specialist in the growing market for twentieth-century design. As you near the end of allée 1, you will catch a glimpse of the t-shirt vendors on rue Biron, but don’t cross over into that world just yet.
#7 Serpette
Turn left and head back up allée 2. This covered portion of the market is narrower. Have you reached sensory overload yet? Hang in there. Head back to rue des Rosiers, cross the street, and move on to two more markets: Paul Bert and Serpette.Serpette is at 110 rue des Rosiers, but you are more likely to notice the Paul Bert sign. The two markets interconnect under the same ownership; both are favorites for trendsetting design exports. Combined, the two markets represent well over three hundred merchants, with a wide variety of furniture and decorative treasures to discover. Serpette (the indoor portion) was once the garage of France’s first Citroën car dealer. The Paul Bert market (the outside portion) is a favorite of American designers, who ship furniture back in giant crates for clients in need of that special something for their latest remodeling project (say, a floor-to-ceiling shelf ripped from a 1930s bistro). My personal favorite find while shopping for a designer: a stack of nineteenth-century botanical specimens mounted on paper and labeled in Latin calligraphy by monks. After we negotiated the specimens down to $18 each, the designer bought them all and sold them at $300 each immediately after the shipment arrived in Pennsylvania.One more Paul Bert (and marché Vanves) anecdote for you: Years ago, I found a man in the marché Vanves who sold industrial molds for making fine silverware. I bought several to use as bookends or just to display for their beauty. That same year, I found a man at Paul Bert selling the same molds. I spoke with him and he admitted to me that he purchased them in Vanves from the same man and sold them at twice the price at Paul Bert to American clients. Within two years, Pottery Barn stores in the US. began making replicas of the spoon molds as bookends. The moral of the story: There are still little treasures to be found at the flea markets. With some imagination, you might buy an original version of something that becomes the next mass-produced trend. And that something will be more meaningful to you because it will represent an experience you had strolling through the markets of Paris.
#8 Rue des Rosiers
When you have finished looking in Paul Bert and Serpette, return to rue des Rosiers again. Retrace your steps by walking under the overpass and continuing to the first market full of lively music, the same four or five t-shirts in stall after stall, and vendors who, unlike those of the antiques markets, are more than happy to solicit your business.You are now in a different world—a more modern, cosmopolitan, and diverse group. Trendy street fashion mixes with the timeless and the tacky (giant scarf printed with the image of Che Guevera or Tupac Shakur, anyone?). The shift in tone makes the aggressive sales tactics here seem friendly when compared to the wary and cold reception of some of the merchants in the more elitist shops.
The End
One last note as you exit the market and head back toward the métro (remember that lovely Kentucky Fried Chicken?): avoid the freelance scam artists that will try to target you on the sidewalk. If you pause to listen to them or even to say you are not interested, you will have unwanted company until you reach the métro.After the WalkIf you want to visit the marché Vanves, get there early (8:00 a.m.) on a Saturday morning. This smaller market is the one for bargain hunters who like collectibles and antiques. Take métro Line 13: porte de Vanves. Open weekends until 1:00 p.m. (some shops close earlier).
