Brocanting in the rain

The art of the deal (not that one), plus a recipe for crème fraîche roast chicken with tarragon courgettes.

May 06, 2025

∙ Paid

Yesterday, we got up early and, undeterred by the leaden skies – we drove to Pézenas for their twice-annual foire des brocanteurs. This is one of my favourite events of the year. The town’s many antique shops tumble out onto the pavements, with stalls in front of their businesses, and they’re joined by 200 more sellers from all over the region who line the wide avenues around the town. What are you in the market for? A chandelier for thousands of euros? A stone lion for the garden for a few hundred? A stack of old red-and-white linen tea towels, three for ten euros? A teacup? A doll’s house? An old sailor suit? A sword? You’ll find it here.

We walked damply to the Brasserie Molière to meet our friends Kat and Benji. Stallholders poked sticks down the flooded drains on the avenue Maréchal Leclerc in an attempt to dislodge the blockages that were marooning their stalls under a shoe-ruining amount of water. But my spirits were high. I’d already made my first purchase, always enormously settling. I’d seen some wonderful green bottles and jars on a stall, perfect for large flowers and branches. They also presented the opportunity to use the sentence, “Combien pour les verres verts?” (In French, verre, glass, sounds the same as vert, green, as explained here) I got them both for forty euros. I would have paid more if they’d been adorned with worms, vers.

But yesterday, I developed an ace negotiating technique without even realising it.

Séan was wearing his soft blue jacket and a brown felt trilby. He always looks like he’s in the business and people often assume that he is. I usually let him negotiate, partly because I find it excruciating and also because he’s shameless. (When we were in Morocco, negotiating in the souks nearly drove me demented. No, I don’t want a cup of mint tea, I just want to know how much that carpet/necklace/pair of leather slippers is. Thank you.)

But yesterday, I developed an ace negotiating technique without even realising it. I saw a stack of pretty white plates with scalloped edges, blue rims, and elegant, scrolling D monograms. I started to look through them, getting more excited as I realised they were all in wonderful condition, no crazing, no chips. The woman running the stall saw me looking, “They’re nine euros each”. I counted the plates – fourteen dinner plates and two small serving plates. I was trying to do the mental arithmetic. Between you and me, this isn’t my best skill. I was silent, no doubt displaying inadvertent Resting Maths Face. The seller shrugged, “All right! Fifty Euros the lot. My best price.” I couldn’t count out the notes fast enough.

I was trying to convince my friend Rachel to buy this.

It’s the place to come if you want a duck in a straw hat.

I have so many of these, but I can always find room for more.

Tips for brocanting

I was glad we weren’t deterred by the rain. It meant there were fewer customers so sellers were more enthusiastic about doing deals. The prices in Pézenas can be high. The first time we went to this event, I overheard a woman on the phone saying, “Yes, yes, I’m at the brocante in Pézenas…Oh, you know…Same old stuff, just twice as much”. So don’t be put off by bad weather – there are bargains to be had and that’s quite the silver lining.

Go early for the best choice. If you just can’t though, don’t be afraid to go later in the day – you may have fewer treasures to choose from, but dealers might be amenable to lower offers as they contemplate having to pack everything up and get it back in their vans.

Get a purchase in early. It steadies the nerves. Once I’d bought my green glass jars, I was so happy with them I didn’t mind if I found nothing else that day.

Having your top price in your head as you begin your negotiating gives you an air of confidence. Failing that, practice your Resting Maths Face.

Be polite, be friendly, but don’t be afraid to go in with quite a low offer and work your way up.

If you don’t speak French, don’t worry. You can get a long way with a bonjour, a s’il vous plait, a little miming and scribbling down numbers on pieces of paper. Many dealers speak at least enough English to do a deal, too.

Bring bags for your purchases. If you bring your own packing materials for fragile things too, you’ll be the dealers’ new best friend.

And of course, cash in king… Though this being France, you do see people paying by cheque from time to time too.

Do you have any tips for brocanting? I would love to hear them. Also, what’s the best deal you ever did?

Foirees Brocanteurs, Pézenas
The first Sunday in May and the second Sunday in October each year. The town’s fifty or so antique shops and brocantes are joined by more than two hundred sellers, who set up their stalls along the main streets of this lovely town.