citinotes
The collector

In Paris, capital of refined taste, the observing visitor will notice the love of the locals for the beauty of an object -whether this is a piece of furniture, an old book, or a simple knick-knack; this “cult of the object” may account for the existence of yet another Parisian archetype: the collector. The ceaseless flourishing of the flea markets bears witness to it. The Marché aux Puces is the undisputed king of the flea markets in Paris, and one of the biggest ones in Europe. Set in a property of 17 acres (70.000 m2) at the northern gate of Paris, it is a real Aladdin’s cave of 2000 merchants selling the greatest variety of collector’s items: from travel trunks and art-deco vanity cases to ethnic costumes, music instruments, rare records, furniture, home deco items, vintage posters, you name it.
The city centre, too, brims with flea markets, ambulant ones or on a fixed location, seasonal or weekly, generic or specialized… there is always something to fit everyone’s taste. The wealthier collectors can benefit from a great number of antique shops and prestigious art galleries, most of them gathered in the art-friendly 6th, 8th and 4th arrondissements (districts) of Paris. Finally, over the past decade, there is a rapidly growing market of bric-a-brac stores selling a selection of second-hand pieces of furniture online, as well as decoration evaluations by experts.
As a person who lived on the same streets walked by Anatole France and so many other Parisians, I can safely argue that my daily contact with nearby museums, art stores and galleries changed my perception of the world; it opened new horizons of knowledge and shaped my taste. Without realizing it, little by little, I caught the virus of the collector by adopting the habit of “hunting” old or rare books in art history and design. It seems hard to resist this trend in a city that has developped this cult of the object for many centuries now; numerous are the travel notes that describe this Parisian obsession for unearthing hidden treasures and collecting them.
The French writer Anatole France (1865-1924) was born and raised in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, a neighborhood packed with antiquaries and art galleries; in the extract below, he rightly ponders over the influence their window displays exert on a young person’s vision of beauty. It is only natural that the existence of these art troves can become a vehicle for many Parisians to develop a particular interest in the history of cultures; and a good reason to forge a taste for the classic, the old or the rare.
Léo Larguier (1878-1950), French author and resident of Saint-Germain-des-Prés dresses a remarkably detailed portrait of a Parisian collector in the 1930s: Uncle Pons, the hero of his book, has an irresistible drive to collect, a habit that slowly turned him into an outsider, a person completely out of tune with his entourage. Uncle Pons is far more comfortable with an old picture of a lady he would find in a flea market than with the real person portrayed. He would rather the smell the pale pages of the same old newspaper, flip through the same stories time and again than buying a new one. Larguier’s descriptions of Pons’ chaotic flat, turned into a museum to live in, are simply delightful.

Citinotes
chapter 1
Curious testimonies of the past
“It doesn’t seem possible to me”, says Anatole France, “that one can have a spirit like everyone else’s if he is brought up on the riverbanks of Paris, opposite the Louvre and the Tuileries, near the Palais-Mazarin, in front of the glorious Seine river flowing between the towers, turrets and spires of Old Paris. There, from rue Guénégaud to rue du Bac, the shops of bookstores, antique dealers and print merchants profusely spread out the most beautiful forms of art and the most curious testimonies of the past.”
“In its bizarre grace and its funny jumble, each showcase constitutes a seduction for the eyes and the spirit. The passerby who knows how to see always takes some idea away, like the bird flies away with a straw for its nest.” says Anatole France.
The 6th “arrondissement” (i.e. district) is the true homeland of a tribe which tends to gradually disappear and that one cannot imagine to see on the avenue de la Grande-Armée, boulevard de Rochechouart, or rue La Fayette.
We are talking about collectors of books, old paintings and trinkets.
The lover of small boutiques can only live between the Luxembourg gardens and the Seine. Saint-Germain-des-Prés […] is the district where five ground floors out of ten are occupied by antique dealers, bookbinders, and “bouquinistes” (i.e. secondhand booksellers).
Léo Larguier,
Saint-Germain-des-Prés mon village, Paris Plon, 1938.




chapter 2
Uncle Pons, a sweet weirdo
Uncle Pons still lives here. He is a quiet tenant who does not impose on his concierge. She takes him for a weirdo, for a shy and sweet maniac because she sees him come home every evening with a poorly tied package. […]
He only makes purchases at small merchants and small sales. It is he who, in his ant work, displaces undeserved craze, prepares the series that will follow him, one day finds himself in possession of exquisite jewelry, blindly neglected.
He has the scent of wild street dogs hunting poachers, and knows where the only hare in the whole country lies. He holds the decision in the attack; it is not he who will ever buy a ready-made collection!
(If) you meet him in the street and ask him what he carries under his arm (wrapped) in an old newspaper, he will blush even behind his ears. Ten years later, you will not be able to get even for a thousand francs what he bought for just a hundred pennies! And the editors of magazines will humbly ask him to let them photograph his bindings with small irons and coats of arms…” This is a classic fellow.
One can imagine him in an old boy’s apartment overlooking some provincial street such as, rue Jacob or rue de Verneuil. It has been years since he can no longer hang anything on his walls; the unframed canvases pile up in every corner, the drawers are full of trinkets, and the wallets full of sketches and prints. Still, every evening he will come home with yet a new acquisition. Whatever can move people of his generation seem irrelevant to Uncle Pons. He only wants what others don’t have.
Léo Larguier,
Saint-Germain-des-Prés mon village, Paris Plon, 1938.

Serge Gainsbourg’s apartment, © Tony Frank, source Milk Decoration.

Gainsbourg loved to display his collections on tables or sofas. © Tony Frank, source Milk Decoration.

Serge Gainsbourg in his residence, rue de Verneuil. Apart from being a talented composer, Gainsbourg was also a fervent art collector. © Tony Frank, source Vogue France.
chapter 3
Aladdin’s cave
A woman in his house? He will raise his arms in astonishment. Where would she stay? Lord, what would he do with her? There is no room for a woman in this house. He only has one armchair to sit in, always the same, at the corner of the fireplace. The rest of the seats, except that one, are only used to store pictures, frames, books. In his old wardrobe, he has barely reserved two shelves for his laundry. The rest are filled with bric-a-brac.
His kitchen is the storage room of a second-hand trader. He often thought of putting some order in this mess, but he immediately understood that it was impossible. He would need the strength of a Hercules for this job. Every time he goes to sleep, he must empty his bed of pot-bellied cardboard, a canvas, carved wood and a collapsed pile of rare books.
His overcoat and hat are not of the latest fashion, but he doesn’t care, preferring a gouache to a tie, and in his anteroom, an old urn is full of canes like neither Brummel possessed, nor any other famous dandy. On some canes one can find knobs of aventurine and lazulite, vermeil capsules, balls of black silver star enamel, and the typical c-type handles. Some canes of blond tortoise shell are signed Verdier. He leaves them in the urn, and even when the weather is nice, he takes his umbrella.
Léo Larguier,
Saint-Germain-des-Prés mon village, Paris Plon, 1938.




At the “Marché aux Puces”, one of the biggest flea markets in Europe, one can find the joy of a treasure hunter.
Paris for collectors
Explore the best Parisian flea markets, antiquaries, old book shops, and second-hand boutiques where one can find real vintage gems.