Vintage French Interiors: Inspiration from the Antique
Shops and Flea Markets of France

Vintage French Interiors is a misleading title for this book—its subtitle, Inspiration from the Antique Shops and Flea Markets of France is a much more accurate description. If you are passionate about flea markets, this decorative small book is for you—otherwise its appeal will be elusive. Not that this isn’t a great and useful publication—it lists flea markets and antique stores all over France, from Paris to Brittany, and from Normandy to Provence—giving an in-sider’s view of these evocative and often poetic vendors of decorative objects and furniture. The author, writer and pho-tographer Sebastien Siraudeau, introduces us to bro-canteurs, “neither antique dealers nor interior decorators, but people who unearth things—sometimes entire worlds.”

Many of these dealers are obviously his friends, and Siraudeau’s beautifully composed photographs successfully create the feeling of anticipation every collector feels walking into a series of flea market stalls and stores—the allure of the object just visible behind a chair or pile of picture frames. A vintage map of France might just convince you that it is “just perfect for the library,” or a tailor’s dummy would look “great, no, fantastic for the bathroom,”—seducing you with charm and romance, while you conveniently forget the shipping costs.
He describes each region where these dealers are to be found, occasionally adding useful information like: “Bordeaux. The elegant cap-ital of the southwest is experiencing a shake-up, with the quaysides un-dergoing a facelift, and whole districts being pedestrianized: it’s now a place to saunter.” However you should be warned that this whimsical book is translated rather too directly from the French, who tend to get
carried away with their poetic descriptions.

The book finishes with a immensely practical and informative list of addresses, giving the author’s favorite spots for antique hunting and for general wanders around France. He begins with north Paris, with the fleamarkets at Saint-Ouen, Marché Vernaison, the Marché Paul Bert and a stroll around Monmartre. Then East Paris, the Rive Gauche, Rive Droite, West Paris, northern France and Belgium. The addresses then head southward to Normandy, La Perche, southwest France, and finally Provence.
Certainly a great itinerary for your next flea market trip to France, and perhaps for the stay-at-homes, this small publication will provide encouragement to explore American flea-markets this summer, where
similar treasures can be unearthed. Buy this book if you love the hunt!