Finally a Real Brocante Day 11-17-25

Some concern was expressed that we were undergoing a course of Chinese water torture here. I’ll have to clear that notion up now, we had a few days of intermittent showers. They have come through in waves but there has never been a day where it rained like that day in Sevilla.  And unlike a rain in Denver the temperatures here have been in the low 60’s so that it’s quite comfortable, if a bit wet.  This morning when we arose the sun was shining brightly and everything was dry. Mondays in Nice at the Cours Saleya there is a large brocante market.  To clarify what brocantes are; they are antiques and collectibles dealers that don’t generally work out of a bricks and mortar location. They keep their stock in boxes and truck them around to various locations where they pay for a space in which to present them for sale.  In France these markets generally move around from town to town and draw shoppers from the immediate area. They can be

professional like the one in Cours Saleya or it can be a true flea market where the dealers are collectors and pickers who are trying to pedal the little treasures they may have picked up at garage sales and other small flea markets. We love these markets because they really represent a cross section of their cultures and can provide an informal introduction to what people value. We get to talk directly with people who we would never meet in the normal course of the day and hear their opinions on any number of topics. Before we left on this particular trip we were a bit concerned about how the Europeans would react to visitors from the U.S. I’m happy to report that virtually everyone we’ve talked with has been very cordial and friendly.  So we wandered into the market and immediately started looking for great things to agonize over. But it’s like hunting or fishing, the quarry doesn’t give a fig for what the hunter wants and doesn’t always cooperate. But once you’ve had success you keep going back to where you were successful the first time.  

We arrived around 10:45 or so spent a couple hours walking through and looking at the offerings.  What is most frustrating is that we see oodles of things that if we lived here, we would love to buy. But traveling light means that we can’t.  We don’t have room and the craziness of carrying it around for the next couple months would make us Gaga.  But we did see many really fun things, and if I had an apartment here I would be buying artworks like a maniac.  Take a look at these antique petanque balls. They are so beautiful that I would have them in a minute under the right circumstances. Can you imagine how fun they would be in an entryway?  Now multiply the interesting things by a thousand and you get the picture. Your results may vary, depending on what things get your attention.

We actually caught ourselves in time to be able to eat a more leisurely lunch. So we left the market and walked over a few blocks to another restaurant that we really like, Peixes. Peixes is the Portuguese word for fish. A least that’s what we think.  Their menu certainly supports that viewpoint, as almost their whole menu is devoted to seafood dishes.  We shared an appetizer of deep-fried octopus with a spicy mayonnaise dipping sauce. I ordered a side dish of lentils from Puy in an Asian inspired sauce, then followed that with a squid and pasta dish. Deb ordered a small filet of Maigre, a local fish. Today we had a small flask of Rose wine to drink. I told our server that I knew that it was out of season for rose wine but I thought it would be perfect. She laughed and said, ‘Rose is never out of season’, spoken like a true Frenchwoman. We couldn’t resist a dessert so Deb had a pineapple based compote in a millefeuille nest with ginger ice cream 

and I had chocolate mousse with chocolate ice cream.  Yes we gorged ourselves again; we’re weak. 

After lunch we walked back to the flea market and managed to walk through all the remaining booths.  And wouldn’t you know it, we found a booth selling wonderful jackets and clothing from repurposed textiles.  I love interesting textiles and this booth had so many beautiful things. We were just getting ready to move on when I spotted a long pegnoir that had been created from a length of beautifully printed toile. I pointed it out to Deb and either she hooked it or it hooked her, hard to tell. We asked the vendor about it and they said it was a vintage fabric. We proceeded on to other booths, but pretty soon Deb overcame her reticence and we returned to the booth and started the dickering. I asked if they have a better price and the man pointed over to a woman and said we’d have to 

talk to the owner. He called her and as she came over Deb asked again if she had a better price. The woman asked if we were paying in cash, we replied yes and she then knocked almost 30% off her asking price.  Sold!  So if you have ever been to our house you may have seen the drapes in our guest bedroom. Their full name is Toile de Jouy. They are more than a hundred years old and were created in exactly the same manner as the new garment. In 2015 Deb and I spent the day at a museum just outside of Paris that was completely dedicated to the history and production of these types of fabrics. They go all the way back to their creation in 18th century France.  So traveling light be damned, we’ll just have to get rid of some other article of clothing with which we began the trip.

The market was closing up for the day so we walked out of the area and across the street to the promenade. We found a couple chairs facing out to the bay and sat in the late afternoon sunshine to watch the sun go down. I think the tide was coming in because the waves were breaking in such a manner that they were reaching the top plateau of the beach.

It was very amusing to watch people walking along the beach suddenly find their feet in surging water.  It was also funny to watch the little ducklings trying to throw pebbles into the water and have to run away as the waves came up the beach after them. We had a beautiful day and were able to watch the sun go down over the cape where Antibes is located. On our way back to the apartment we stopped to buy tomorrow’s breakfast baguette.  How fortunate we are to be able to spend our late autumn, early winter trips in such an enchanting locale. And how fortunate we are to have our health, even making this possible.