This is the oldest and largest of the Paris flea markets covering 15 acres near the Porte de Clignancourt.
Since the 1920’s there has been a regular market here, where masterpieces could occasionally be purchased cheaply from the then unknowing sellers. Today it is divided into separate markets, offering, furniture, antiques, bric-a-brac, china, old jewelry, paintings, records and vintage clothing.
List of all Saint-Ouen dealers by name, specialty and market
Friday is Dealers Day: Credentials needed for admittance.
Saturday, Sundays and Mondays year-round: 7 am to 6 pm. Open tot he public.
Metro: Porte de Clignancourt
Take the metro to the last stop, Porte de Clignancourt on the purple #4.
Recommended Reading: Bit by Fleas by Stuart and Pamela Hough (Vilo Publishing). This book, written by an American who restores antiques in his Paris atelier, is invaluable for locating all you need to know about the market, local restaurants and public restrooms.
Stuart Hough made his first buying trip to France in 1981 in search of French country pieces, his first stop was the marché aux puces, the legendary flea market in northern Paris.
In 1995, he bought a stand in the Marché Serpette and became the first American marchand aux puces. Then in 1998, he sold his stand and opened William Stuart Antiques on an adjacent street.
Hough's gregarious wife, Pamela, often accompanied her husband to work, practicing her French with the merchants and shoppers. She empathized with the foreign tourists who tried, usually unsuccessfully, to make sense out of the labyrinth of streets and stands. I'd see these couples standing on a corner trying to figure out a map they'd ripped out of a magazine, she recalls. They were totally lost.
Since no book had been devoted exclusively to the Grande Dame of flea markets, the Houghs decided to write one. But, they admit, Bit by Fleas is anything but a comprehensive and objective guide. There's a strong prejudice toward the Serpette and Paul-Bert markets, explains Stuart, because they are universally recognized as being the top professional ones. Readers soon learn that the puces isn't a flea market in the American sense; it's where antique dealers find their stock, which means that prices are one-third or even half what they would be stateside. But the Houghs also recommend stands throughout the puces - everything from vintage clothing to toys - plus restaurants and bistros.
Other chapters indicate where to find an ATM or a bathroom and how to tell a bergère from a buffet.
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