Always good for entertainment, and the odd little treasure are the vide greniers; France’s answer to garage sales. These are sales on a village scale, with a festive atmosphere. Typically, vendors secure a spot by paying a nominal fee to the local town hall (Marie).  The wares for sale, oscillate between …

France is the ultimate haven for those passionate about estate sales, antiques, and French brocantes. A French brocante is similar to a giant yard sale—a game of hunting and gathering. Brocante stores are a familiar sight in the south of France. In Uzès, there are weekends devoted to brocantes. Items …

In the last few years, Saturdays would normally involve a trip across to the wonderful brocante market at Villeneuve-Les-Avignon, arriving early and spending the whole morning just fuddling around the stalls, finding new pieces for the house, or simply letting our imaginations run riot with what we may be able …

A Guest Post: Is there anyone who would not dream of visiting Provence? Just think about this region and images of lavender fields, the azure sea, and market produce appear in your head. Provence is just as you imagine! It is worth noting that Provence is not a cheap tourist …

By Vaucluse Dreamer: Yesterday Andy and I sat in the Artisan Bakery on The Quay in Exeter, raising a cup of coffee to celebrate the 3 years since we signed the papers and picked up the keys to our long-dreamed-for house in Provence. Of course we would have rather been …

By Vaucluse Dreamer: Firstly I have to start with an apology – the last few months have been rather chaotic with one thing and another and I find that this really is the first time I’ve been able to sit and write about our little half-life in France for quite …

Exploring Brocantes As you have probably gathered by now we tend to enjoy spending our time in France cycling, visiting brocante markets, vide greniers and drinking coffee, with the days passing by in a blur and us inevitably falling into bed each evening tired and satisfied after the day’s activities. …

When you can choose to live almost anywhere in the world why would you pick Provence as the place to settle and buy a home? Mimi and Michael Pillsbury selected Provence for its lifestyle, culture and more relaxed pace of life. The South of France would indeed seem bucolic for …

Contributor blog post by Vaucluse Dreamer: So that’s it – I’m back in the UK after another long summer at our little place in Provence – Andy’s staying on for another couple of weeks, as he came out after me and we always want to use the house as much as …

Last weekend we decided to potter off to enjoy a couple of brocante markets and vide grenier events being held in the area. The last time we’d gone to one we’d found a wonderful French Military History chart for our youngest, Tom, who’s passionate about history, so he too thought …