By Bianca Jashnani
Photos by Amalia Radu, Michelle Sit Aboha and Tsvetelina Stancheva
Les Puces de Saint Ouen is the world’s biggest flea market and the fifth most visited landmark in France after Euro-Disney, Notre Dame, Eiffel Tower and the Louvre. Formally known as Le Marché aux Puces de Saint-Ouen, it has around 3000 vendors, stalls and showrooms with 120,00 to 180,000 visitors on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
You need a couple of hours at least to explore the market because there is so much to see, so many things to shop from and delicious food that cannot be missed!
The flea market covers 20 acres of land and actually consists of 12 mini-markets within it. The markets sell everything you can imagine, starting from as low as €2, selling 17th and 18th century furniture to beautiful paintings to a genuine Chanel bag!
The market was established in 1885 when people started going through the trash to look for anything that could be resold or used again. This was when people cleaned up the pavement, designated the area as an official market and started setting up stalls which had to be paid for to be used.
The flea market is not the easiest to find, and it is hard to tell where it begins or ends! It is a massive maze which you will get lost in if you don’t take the map along to navigate through it.
You would think that everything would be cheap in a flea market, but the truth is there are high-end fashion shops and antique shops that sell their products for more than €500 for an item as they are considered to be vintage.
Antoine Pierre, 47, owner of an antique furniture store, said, “People look at our furniture and really like it, but when they actually get to know the price of it, they are shocked.
“They don’t expect our things to be as expensive as €15,000 or more because of the location of our shop. But I always tell my customers that our quality is one of the best.”
Pierre’s great-grandfather rented the shop in the market in 1908, which was then passed on to his grandfather, then his father and then him. Pierre further plans to pass on the antique furniture shop to his children so they don’t abandon their roots.
Les Puces is the best place to find antique jewellery, furniture, second-hand cameras and other electronics, old books, vinyl, drawings, sculptures and vintage clothes. Another great thing about the flea market is that you can get your bargaining skills to work and get something reasonable for even a lower price!
You can also pop into the restaurants with different cuisines within the 12 mini-markets to take a little break from the shopping before continuing. Finding the restaurants might be a little hard as they are deep within the markets.
Le Marché aux Puces de Saint-Ouen is a must-visit to have the complete Parisian experience and get the best souvenirs for friends and family because there is nothing you can’t find there!
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