Our hostess had told us about these very popular events that are held in a lot of locations in the country.

Today the small commune of Colombier (about 15 km drive from us) was to host a brocante or vide-grenier. We had seen brochures and banners promoting this and I had also looked on a French website (www.brocabrac.fr) to confirm the date and time. There are literally hundreds of these advertised on this website.

We parked near the church as we saw lots of cars already lining the roadside, but we got a shock when we saw just how far from the market we were and how many more cars were parked along the side of the road. The markets were literally being held in small parcels of land right next to vineyards.

Now what is a brocante or vide-grenier?

One of the translations said a “garage sale” and that could describe it, but with 100s of people selling their wares. Most of it junk, but some very interesting antiques.

Not long after we arrived, I got lost apparently. I started to get very concerned as Michael was wearing a dark jumper as were 90% of the people there. Thankfully I found him about 20 minutes later and together we worked out how to purchase something to eat and how to stay together a little better.

We had to buy some coupons for the food that we exchanged in a different spot all together for a grille saucisson (sausage in a baguette) and frites. It looked like a stall run by the Lions Club.

I was looking for something warm to buy as I have not packed the right gear. It is quite cold in Europe at the moment, even though it is almost summer. I ended up buying a jacket for €3 or ($4.50) which will get me out of trouble. Michael was interested in these boots but I talked him out of them.

Instead I tried to interest him in a walking stick as we had probably walked 6-8 km getting to and around this market. We estimate there were at least 5000 people there with us. It was a great experience and if I had more than a backpack with me for my luggage I may have done some serious shopping.