When: Saturdays, Thursdays (8am - 12pm) Sundays (7am - 3pm)
Where: 3 Rue Eugène Pottier, 69100 Villeurbanne (suburb of Lyon)
What: World class flea market- 400 vendors, multiple halls and auditoriums, food, drinks, and bathrooms!
Budget: Free entry and price haggling! I scored some great pieces for under 30 euros.
Level of French required: Practice your numbers + "Bonjour" "Trop Cher" "Merci!"
Culture Tip: Always ask before you take photos of merchandise in France.
Les Puces du Canal (or de Villerbaune) is totally worth a stop! Europe simply puts our "antique" markets to shame. One tour around the "brocante" (another French word for flea market) and you'll find truck loads of records, boxes of silver spoons, (possibly illegal) animal busts and horns, WW2 supplies, fur coats, collectors dishes, stamps, postcards, paintings, cars, bikes, statues, and out of this world deco / furniture, (along with a trillion other things.) Les Puces de Villerbaune is the second biggest flea market in France (after Paris) so it can be kind of overwhelming at first. There are all types of vendors: some who come and lay their wares out on carpets, some who have permanent little shops, and some that create "walk in" show rooms in the halls (that list was in ascending price ranges.) The best part is that haggling is encouraged! I copped this not-so-little astrological dial for .... 10 euros! (It was 40 before so please be impressed.) Along with a vintage, sheepskin coat for... 15 euros! Expect to take home a couple treasures and don't neglect the "vin chaud" if you go in December ;-)
All photos Siobhan Donovan 2017