porte des vanves flea market

after big nights out in paris, it’s sometimes hard to pull myself out of bed early enough to scour flea markets all morning. but I will say, despite my incessant yawning and initial fight to wake up, once I get there, it’s electric. this past weekend was an especially good visit to the porte des vanves flea-- my favorite of all the established ones. it was busy in a good way, buzzing with all sorts of people, namely americans. and though I normally get quite annoyed at the asians negligence of personal space, I closely followed two who giddily exclaimed at each and every thing. it was quite adorable. also, the merchandise was amazing. the warmer weather brought out many new people and loads of new things and suddenly their english was impeccable (was this just in time for the boatload of tourists dropped off or were they living up to their stereotype and being stubborn beforehand??)I also adore the way that despite what they are doing, the french are still french. so many of the vendors bring bottles of wine and casually sit down while people peruse their things. they have dogs who wander up and down the street. and my favorite are the men who bring the card table and spend the day playing cards together.