jacki

Hi

I was wondering if anyone knows about any auction houses in the Languedoc area of France? General sales & antique and collectable sales. Also - how common are car boot sales in this area (Vide Greniez is the term I believe!!)

I am going to be out in the area for a couple of days at the beginning of June (6th & 7th) as a recce of the area before we make the move out here. I do know the area reasonably well as I lived near Perpignan in 1995/6/7.

Thanks in advance for any answers.

Jacki

proo

You may be able to find out this stuff using google.fr or asking at your local mairie. The vide greniers I've been to in the cities are really crap. People are really getting rid of their junk.

karunia

I found the vide-greniers around me "in the bush" also crap, with really overpriced items. But in Montpellier, every Sunday morning there is a huge so-called garage sale in the infamous La Paillade area. Very occasionally there might be some interesting items, some obviously fallen off the back of a lorry.
However, last week in my more local weekly garage sale in the outback of Herault, there was a British film crew.... they were shooting for a new BBC2 series on "Sun, Sand and Bargains" I think it was. The lead guy was explaining, in English, to the lead gal that this here one-legged table would be worth 200-250 pounds back home. They were saying all this in front of the local French guy, who clearly could not understand what was being said. Then the seller was asked how much he wanted for it, he said 160 euros. Then the lead guy said that was too much, he was prepared to pay ...100 euros for it.... eventually they settled for 120 euros... (and they were saying in front of him that they could sell it for 300 euros? By that time I felt quite offended on behalf of the seller, who was so blatantly and rudely taken for a ride and not only exploited, but clearly treated as an ignorant French hick...
This is only an anecdote, mind you.
But it must mean that there are still bargains to be had, (and this here is Languedoc), if that's what you are after.