Brocante shopping in France

My favorite part of the day in France is when we would all come back to the chateau after a long day of brocante* shopping. We would have a glass of wine and we would all show off our finds of the day. I loved seeing things that caught other peoples' eyes. I might have seen the same little jar laying in a basket, but when one of the fabulous ladies showed it off I saw what they saw and grew an appreciation of something new. Kaari taught us that if you had your eye on something you would ask the vendor about 5 other things and then right before you walked away you'd ask about the thing you really wanted. On a pad of paper we would write the price that we were willing to pay for it and then we would have a little back an forth negotiation even though neither party spoke the same language. I was so nervous at first after an embarrassing mishap on our honeymoon {We were at the Paris flea market and I seriously insulted a Frenchmen when I offered 40 euros for something that was (apparently) worth more... any way he NO JOKE pushed us out of his space. I was horrified and from then on had my tail between my legs and felt like an 'Ugly American'} Anyway, I digress. Kaari taught us to be aggressive and showed us that we could still shop even without knowing French {which was so much fun}.

And speaking of shopping. One of my friends from the trip is having a sale in Santa Barbara {Summerland} tomorrow {November 20th}. Kaari's mom and sister will be there selling goodies and my friend Carla will be there with all of her yummy canned goods. I think we might even make the drive.

*A brocante is what they call their flea markets although some are in people's yards {which was so much fun}