Paris Flea Market Tour

Meet up with your guide at the Garibaldi metro station right on the edge of the market. Your odyssey begins at the Marché Paul Bert and Serpette where design and vintage clothes are on the menu. Brace yourself for what your guide calls her ‘wow’ stores: where your only response to the value-price ratio will be ‘wow’.

This is also where your interaction with the vendors, whom your guide knows by name, begins. These pipe-smoking, beret-wearing merchants evoke a long forgotten, calmer France of the past. Don’t expect to be harassed or goaded into purchasing their merchandise—genuine flea market merchants always wait to be approached by the buyer!

Next on the list: the Marché Dauphine. As the brick walls and iron buttresses reveal, this is one of the more recent additions. Fashion and accessories of all types dominate the stock in this section. Feeling quirky? Ask your guide to take you to the stand specializing in clothing pieces dating between 1900 and 1940. Nothing like an original flapper dress or dandy hat to complete your wardrobe!

It’s time to head to some of the concept stores that embody the slow yet steady modernization of the markets. Here you could find those great pieces that tie an entire room together—dresser decked out with shells, anyone? Too expensive, you say? Pas de problème! In the unlikely event she can’t talk the vendor into giving you the deal of a lifetime, she’ll know exactly where to find the perfect alternative.

Your hunt will end at the oldest of the fifteen markets: the Marché Vernaison. Inaugurated in 1920, this is one of the most comprehensive sections of the puces. You’ll find everything from contemporary design furnishings to vintage hand-held mirrors. On that note you’ll have concluded your tour of the markets, with a smile on your face and many treasures, we hope.

*Please note: If you're in search of something in particular, simply let us know—your guide can prepare your visit in advance so you'll have the greatest chance of finding your dream purchase!