Braderie Lille - The Largest Flea Market in Europe
Today I did something I've been wanting to do ever since I heard about it 3 years ago. Attend the annual Braderie. I had heard that it was two miles of booths selling antiques. I've since learned it much more than that.
Here's a summary in numbers:
As I was researching the Braderie online I learned that it was cancelled last year because of terrorist attacks. They just didn't see how they were going to be able to protect 2.5 million people on the streets. This year they decided to create a barricade that surround the event with 29 security check points.
Fortunately, I live pretty close to the Rihour (town square) so I could just take the Metro in. I decided to get off at the Republique Beaux-Arts metro stop. I wasn't sure if it was the right stop until I saw the entire subway car also exit. Yep, I chose the right one.
As I exited the metro car, I saw the main area surrounded by men in army fatigues with huge rifles in their arms. This sight really jolted me. I realized that the threat of terrorism is very real. These men were going to do whatever it takes to protect us. I couldn't help but well up at the thought of some stranger jumping in harm's way to keep me safe.
As I got to the surface I wondered why the website said 2.5 million attended this event. It seemed pretty sparse to me. It was 10:00 a.m. and the event had been going for 2 hours. I forgot that the French are not typically early risers. I wandered down Liberty Avenue and looked at what the antique dealers had brought. It was quite the eclectic mix. Quite quickly I saw something that I loved. A tiny pair of spectacles with green lens. I thought it would look really cool next to my fake wooden binoculars in my NYC apartment. The guy told me they were children's glasses from the 1920's. I have no idea if he was telling the truth, but everything else he had looked old, so I bought them for 15 Euro.
As someone who is just renting a small apartment in Lille but actually from America, it's kind of frustrating to look at all the great stuff for sale. Not only do I have to decide if it something I like and if the price is good, I have to decide if it's worth packing in a suitcase, or shipping back to the States. Not only that, I have no idea what are reproductions and what are bona fide. Some stuff looked really fake, other stuff looked really old.
I decided to just enjoy looking around and not get too worked up about finding something to buy. I think the items that I loved the most, were the mid-century chairs. So many to choose from, and some were in really good condition. One of these years I need to get a whole group from America together and we buy enough stuff to fill a shipping pod.
It didn't take very long before I noticed a strange phenomenon. Almost every booth, no matter what they sold had at least one creepy doll for sale somewhere among their wares. At first I thought it was just an odd coincidence, but freaky looking dolls and doll heads kept cropping up in the oddest of places.
The French do NOT like it when you take pictures. I hardly ever see anyone with a camera and even rarer I see people taking pictures. But I had to gets some pictures of what I'm calling "The Creepy Doll Effect." I've learned to be pretty stealth when it comes to taking pictures. So it became my quest to take as many pictures of these creepy dolls as I could find.
I started finding creepy dolls (and just to be clear I think all dolls are creepy) in the oddest of places. Beautiful china laid out carefully on the table and a doll head right in the middle. Books and shoes, with a pile of filthy Barbie dolls mixed in. I finally started to wonder if maybe I was missing something.
Surely people weren't going to buy these dolls with missing eyes, broken fingers, and soiled clothing. So what are they doing there? I started fantasizing that it was some secret code indicating that they were part of an underground railroad like what the South did to help runaway slaves. I wondered if the legs and arms were actually acting as arrows point the way to those who knew what to look for. If you don't hear from me after this post, it might mean I cracked the code and I've been caught.
After about an hour and a half, I could feel the crowd growing and decided to wander around a bit more and see what else the Braderie had to offer. I walked towards the Palais Grand Lille and saw that it was more like a yard sale. People selling things they had either made or had been lying around their house. I decided to keep walking.
I wandered over to Rihour. Rihour is sort of like a combination of Union Square and Soho. High end shopping with a big plaza where people gather to relax and eat. This is where it was really crowded. I decided to take a side street and saw that a restaurant was selling moules + frites (mussels and fries) for just 10 Euro. I decided to eat that for lunch and then I headed home for some rest.
My friend Neris called me about 1:30 p.m. and said that she was going to wait out the rain storm and then we could meet in Rihour. I met her around 3:00 p.m. and met her Romanian friend Camillia. Those two showed me a part of Braderie that I hadn't seen in the morning. It was closer to the Citadel. They had things that were like 10 cents or 50 cents. It was sort of like shopping at a Deseret Industries in Utah. Camillia has a 2 year old so she was looking for cute things for her daughter. Neris really likes porcelain antiques. I was happy to just find anything that looked cool and French.
It's hard to believe that we wandered around looking and shopping for 4 hours. And we still didn't even see half of what the Braderie had to offer. Camillia asked me if we had anything like this in America. I really can't think of anything like this. We have carnivals, music concerts, restaurant events, flea markets, yard sales, street music performers, and sidewalk sales. But I think of a place where you get all of them at once, 2.5 million people, and enclosed in concrete barriers with armed guards at every entry point.
I highly recommend the Braderie and can't wait to go again.
Here's a summary in numbers:
- Annual event held since the 1100's
- 2.5 million people attend
- 8000 vendors
- 80 km (50 miles) of booths
- 500 tons of mussels and 30 tons of French fries sold (yes, that's 1 million pounds of mussels)
- Open 34 hours - From Saturday morning at 8:00 a.m to Sunday at 6:00 p.m.
As I was researching the Braderie online I learned that it was cancelled last year because of terrorist attacks. They just didn't see how they were going to be able to protect 2.5 million people on the streets. This year they decided to create a barricade that surround the event with 29 security check points.
Fortunately, I live pretty close to the Rihour (town square) so I could just take the Metro in. I decided to get off at the Republique Beaux-Arts metro stop. I wasn't sure if it was the right stop until I saw the entire subway car also exit. Yep, I chose the right one.
As I exited the metro car, I saw the main area surrounded by men in army fatigues with huge rifles in their arms. This sight really jolted me. I realized that the threat of terrorism is very real. These men were going to do whatever it takes to protect us. I couldn't help but well up at the thought of some stranger jumping in harm's way to keep me safe.
As I got to the surface I wondered why the website said 2.5 million attended this event. It seemed pretty sparse to me. It was 10:00 a.m. and the event had been going for 2 hours. I forgot that the French are not typically early risers. I wandered down Liberty Avenue and looked at what the antique dealers had brought. It was quite the eclectic mix. Quite quickly I saw something that I loved. A tiny pair of spectacles with green lens. I thought it would look really cool next to my fake wooden binoculars in my NYC apartment. The guy told me they were children's glasses from the 1920's. I have no idea if he was telling the truth, but everything else he had looked old, so I bought them for 15 Euro.
As someone who is just renting a small apartment in Lille but actually from America, it's kind of frustrating to look at all the great stuff for sale. Not only do I have to decide if it something I like and if the price is good, I have to decide if it's worth packing in a suitcase, or shipping back to the States. Not only that, I have no idea what are reproductions and what are bona fide. Some stuff looked really fake, other stuff looked really old.
I decided to just enjoy looking around and not get too worked up about finding something to buy. I think the items that I loved the most, were the mid-century chairs. So many to choose from, and some were in really good condition. One of these years I need to get a whole group from America together and we buy enough stuff to fill a shipping pod.
It didn't take very long before I noticed a strange phenomenon. Almost every booth, no matter what they sold had at least one creepy doll for sale somewhere among their wares. At first I thought it was just an odd coincidence, but freaky looking dolls and doll heads kept cropping up in the oddest of places.
The French do NOT like it when you take pictures. I hardly ever see anyone with a camera and even rarer I see people taking pictures. But I had to gets some pictures of what I'm calling "The Creepy Doll Effect." I've learned to be pretty stealth when it comes to taking pictures. So it became my quest to take as many pictures of these creepy dolls as I could find.
I started finding creepy dolls (and just to be clear I think all dolls are creepy) in the oddest of places. Beautiful china laid out carefully on the table and a doll head right in the middle. Books and shoes, with a pile of filthy Barbie dolls mixed in. I finally started to wonder if maybe I was missing something.
Surely people weren't going to buy these dolls with missing eyes, broken fingers, and soiled clothing. So what are they doing there? I started fantasizing that it was some secret code indicating that they were part of an underground railroad like what the South did to help runaway slaves. I wondered if the legs and arms were actually acting as arrows point the way to those who knew what to look for. If you don't hear from me after this post, it might mean I cracked the code and I've been caught.
After about an hour and a half, I could feel the crowd growing and decided to wander around a bit more and see what else the Braderie had to offer. I walked towards the Palais Grand Lille and saw that it was more like a yard sale. People selling things they had either made or had been lying around their house. I decided to keep walking.
I wandered over to Rihour. Rihour is sort of like a combination of Union Square and Soho. High end shopping with a big plaza where people gather to relax and eat. This is where it was really crowded. I decided to take a side street and saw that a restaurant was selling moules + frites (mussels and fries) for just 10 Euro. I decided to eat that for lunch and then I headed home for some rest.
My friend Neris called me about 1:30 p.m. and said that she was going to wait out the rain storm and then we could meet in Rihour. I met her around 3:00 p.m. and met her Romanian friend Camillia. Those two showed me a part of Braderie that I hadn't seen in the morning. It was closer to the Citadel. They had things that were like 10 cents or 50 cents. It was sort of like shopping at a Deseret Industries in Utah. Camillia has a 2 year old so she was looking for cute things for her daughter. Neris really likes porcelain antiques. I was happy to just find anything that looked cool and French.
It's hard to believe that we wandered around looking and shopping for 4 hours. And we still didn't even see half of what the Braderie had to offer. Camillia asked me if we had anything like this in America. I really can't think of anything like this. We have carnivals, music concerts, restaurant events, flea markets, yard sales, street music performers, and sidewalk sales. But I think of a place where you get all of them at once, 2.5 million people, and enclosed in concrete barriers with armed guards at every entry point.
I highly recommend the Braderie and can't wait to go again.
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