There are two major flea markets in Paris. The biggest one, Porte de Clignacourt is located at the Northern most point of the city, while the other, Porte de Vanves, is tucked away in the South West. I lived two blocks from Porte de Vanves but only stopped by a few times. It was open on Sundays and sold mostly antiques, junk, and hidden treasures. The crowd was older and the pace was slower. This is where bargain hunters scoured for vintage Hermes scarves and Chanel suits. We went looking for vintage jewelry and pocket watches to turn into necklaces, but always came up empty handed. I didn’t have the patience or the knowledge to find a hidden gem.
Porte de Clignacourt was a much livelier flea market, much like China town, and open Friday - Monday. As soon as you got off the metro, someone was waiting to sell you a Gucci watch or Louis Vuitton purse. I went with a group of friends that had dropped in from Amsterdam. They were on the hunt for touristy gifts to stash in their bags for their friends in the Netherlands. We huddled together while I bargained in French-- quite successfully. It was so overrun with tourists that they believed my faux-French accent and mistook me for a local. We wandered passed stands of scarves, shoes, t-shirts-- stumbled into a ghetto/hip hop area where they had Baby Milo gear-- and finally found antiques and furniture hidden at the back of the flea market.
These two flea markets in particular are absolutely overwhelming. Pickpockets are everywhere and being ripped off as a tourist is quite common. But people go for the atmosphere, the experience, and only if they have hours to kill.
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