Visiting the Braderie in Lille was always high on my thrifters-to-do list. However, I never got around to visiting. But when my sister proposed to go there, I didn’t hesitate a minute. Let’s do it! After our successful Ghent adventure we could go for another thrift weekend. So we went to Lille (France), which has the biggest flea market of Europe. 100 km with stuff, oh yeah!
We went there by car, which was perfectly fine. We stayed in the Hotel Mercure Lille Metropole, from where we could take the tram (a 1 minute walk) to the city centre. You are able to buy a ‘Braderie Pass’ which gives you acces to the public transport for the whole weekend.
First of all, there was the marathon. This is a bit annoying since the main roads in the city centre are blocked. It will end around Saturday 14.00.
There are a lot of neighborhoods with different stuff that they sell. Our favorite place was around the citadel. This area is called Façade de l’Esplanade. There we found most of our treasures. Boulevard Jean-Baptiste Lebas is also nice, but a bit more expensive. In there area you will mosty find ‘real’ antiquarians.
We had lunch at Brasserie Lille Opera which had lovely food and was a perfect spot to relax after walking around 10 km of flea market….
And of course…. My thrift finds!
Some old pictures… From cars to flowers. And some large birds!
A ‘B’ stamp
And of course, brooches! I really loved all the brooches I found. I must say, my sister is an excellent brooch-hunter. When I was rummiging through baskets with rubbish, she already spotted the good stuff and found me some awesome brooches.
And last but not least, a Mapsj! Very funny though that I found a Dutch chart in France… :-)
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