Vaucluse Dreamer

Today started early, we always knew that it would as we were keen to get out into the brocante market, and there’s something rather exciting about an early start.

Last night, as we walked back from supper, every car parked on the main road that skirts the town has a notice under the windscreen saying it had to be moved by 4am, but there was no sign of any traders.

This morning though, as we stepped out of the flat before the sun rose, the town was already buzzing, with people ferreting through stalls as they were still being set up, holding onto torches to be able to really see what was there. From time to time, everyone had to move aside to allow a truck to pass, towing away vehicles that had ignored the notice to leave.

I love being at a market at this time in the morning, looking through the stalls as they start to be filled with goods, spotting unusual bits and being restrained by Andy from leaping in and buying something, just because it’s there. Especially today, when I can’t really buy anything, as we can’t carry that much on the bikes.

In the past, when we’ve visited brocantes
near home, Andy has been known to cycle with a trailer attached to his old shopper bike, and once, turned heads as he rode home towing a rather large zinc bathtub behind him. But on a cycle tour, that’s not really an option (sad but true)

We ambled along, scanning the stalls for anything that caught our eyes, looking especially for little bits of silver that I can play with in my workshop. At least that’s light and easily portable, unlike the beautiful old leather club chairs and gorgeous old tiles, which firstly made me long for a new house to play with that we can fill with furniture and quirky vintage finds, and secondly that we had something other than a bike to carry it all home on.

At that time of day there were the hardened few of us browsing the stalls, as it was still chilly, especially in those few minutes before the sun finally rose, when the temperature seemed to drop even further. But the plus side was that it was wonderfully quiet and there was plenty of space around the stalls to really be able to have a good look at what was there.

As the sun started to rise behind the trees, the last few stallholders finished their coffees and finally started to unpack their vans

The October brocante market here in Pezenas is vast, and it took us over 4 hours to have our first scan of the stalls, succumbing to a few bits of art nouveau silver for me to play with

Looking at the stalls though you see some of the most unusual and sometimes hideous things too. Trying to find the rather garish fish lights has become an ongoing game with friends…

As has the ‘who can spot the first clown paintings?’ always enough to bring on nightmares

But today’s find that raised our eyebrows was a wonderful old poster advertising Chapellerie Bruyas, a milliners that is still in existence today. The depiction of rabbits happily launching themselves into a machine, emerging as hats, with a rabbit ghost jumping down to the floor is quite disturbing and all I can say is that the lady encouraging the bunnies into the machine would give Cruella DeVille a run for her money. Can you imagine this being considered as acceptable marketing today…

There are also fun finds like Josie, the cow that ‘mooves’ with a tail that swishes and a ‘mooing voice’ too … It was hard to resist!

Of course, there are beautiful things too and it’s always tempting to find another brightly coloured sofa syphon to add to our collection.

Or a bench that would look great in the hallway

And yet more watering cans to pop on the terrace.

And every stall has to be scanned, at least once, just in case we’ve missed something.

As lunchtime arrived, we ambled back into town and bought sandwiches, heading back to the flat to collapse on the sofa for an hour, gathering ourselves for round two in the afternoon. We have come to enjoy the brocante and it’s going to take us all day!

The afternoon started with us revisiting the stalls and just making sure we hadn’t missed something. But after lunch it has a very different feel … The traders have laid out tables groaning with food and often a bottle or three of wine, and are sitting in groups enjoying their lunch and relaxing a little after the full-contact selling of the early morning. Others are dozing in chairs behind their stalls, leaving the dogs in charge

We ambled along, this time going into all the antique shops that had thrown open their doors too.

I managed to convince Andy that we didn’t need a cannon for the terrace …

And he convinced me that I didn’t need a collection of hand-painted jewellery designs too.

After another few hours on our feet, we finally accepted that there was nothing else left for us to find. Footsore, after shuffling through nearly 8 kilometres, we ambled into the heart of the old town, bought an ice cream and wearily sat down on the steps in the main square, not able to do much more than simply watch the world pass by.

So this evening, we’ll just relax a little and plan a day’s ride for tomorrow. We’re aiming to head out on a loop around Beziers, probably revisiting the charming village of Capestang, where we stayed on our cycle ride through France, earlier this year.

For now though, I’ll just sit with a glass of wine, watching the birds hurtle around the rooftops, as that is about all I can manage this evening!