Summer brocante

In August, the city slows down till I get the feeling that I have it all to myself. Its not unusual to find streets full of closed shuttered shops and restaurants. As there is hardly a soul around, it is not surprising that my well loved brocantes are likewise absent.  

This summer,  I had the pleasure of discovering several summer brocantes in the countryside. I started in Aillant sur Tholon and then managed to go to two more. Let me tell you about the one in Barjac.

Barjac is a picturesque town nestled between the Cevennes national park and the Gorges d'Ardeches.  It is not quite South of France, but it is south enough to enjoy gorgeous sunny weather. Let me tell you a bit about this region. It is dramatically beautiful --there are towering mountains and cliffs and the mighty Rhone wends its way past these mountains while people kayak down the river Ardeche, the better to appreciate these natural wonders.  If you've ever a yearning to lose yourself in some gorgeous scenery where the tourism is largely local, I cannot recommend highly enough the Ardeche.  I will do a separate post on the Gorges d'Ardeche, that's so much I was taken by it.

But back to Barjac....

We arrived in Barjac, ready to hit the brocante but not really expecting much from the town. In fact it is gorgeous!  It dates back to the Renaissance period and they have preserved much of the town's old buildings and character.  There is a graciousness to its buildings and behind high stone walls, we caught  glimpses of gardens filled with flowering plants.

Several times, I was distracted from the wares by the views all around.

There seemed to be pretty flowering pots on every window sill

And I loved that there are picture perfect cafes where you can sit leisurely and dine on the day's offerings.

The brocante itself was a biggish affair. We started on the top of the hill and worked our way down. There were pretty glasses and carafes

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and crates of old dusty pharmacy bottles and wares.

The square were most of the stalls were concentrated was shady with trees in full bloom and I for one appreciated the shade, it must've been at least 90 degrees under the sun!

At one point, I was tempted to take advantage of this fountain but I managed to restrain myself.

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Back to arduous business of browsing, I spotted gorgeous porcelain dishes and

and a vintage screen that would be so nice if I had a store of my own.

I loved this wooden chair resting against yet another fountain!

Now I didn't come home with furniture or glassware, much as I wanted to, but I did find something even better.  I found a seller with a small bag of loose beads, vintage ones made in India.  Look at how gorgeous their colors are. I'm sure they'll make for wonderful additions to this fall's new jewelry!