The World’s First Flea Market – Photos From Les Marché aux Puces de Clignancourt

Scavengers’ tale
8 months ago

Don’t even call this place a market. Les Puces de Clignancourt, as this beast is commonly called, is more of a self-contained city filled to the brim with vintage goods; jaw-dropping antiques; bric-a-brac; used, gently used, very used everything; knock-offs of premium brands and just plain garbage. Touted as the first flea market in the world, and probably the largest, it’s closer to a shopping district than a singular market. Made up of thirteen official markets as well as hundreds of individuals vendors selling anything you can imagine, you could easily spend an entire weekend here, drifting between the grifters and the dealers, the high end and the low end, and everything in between. Looking for a gilded bassinet on a stand in the form of cherubs? Check. What about a tangled mound of anonymous electrical cords to nowhere? Got it. Mid-century modern pieces for your yuppy flat? Yep. Knock off Nikes? Done and done. And then stop off for a meal, glass of wine, and cigarette at one of the many restaurants and stands of your choice. They literally and figuratively have it all.