Marché Saint-Marc

One of my favorite things about France (or Europe in general) is the abundance of markets. I feel like one can find anything at these gatherings. There is everything from fresh fruit to used watches to bedding that one can purchase. Each market is pretty similar to the other however the market that I went to this morning was different than any of the others.
The age of the market attendees was the first thing I noticed. I went at ten in the morning. Considering that people (university students) don't even start their night until 12, the market was empty of the young crowd. Instead it was filled with mainly older couples and retirees. Older scarf-wearing women with their rolling grocery sacs and men with their khaki trench coats, hats, and bifocals were making their way through the market.
This market looked like a couple antique stores had been expelled from their premises. There were stalls upon stalls of old china, paintings, clocks, jewelry, and in general treasures from yesteryear. One could look through piles of BD's from the 70's or at records of American artists with French titles. Many times as I was rifling through bins, I found items that still had their prices in Francs. Considering that France stopped using the Franc a decade ago, I got the feeling that many of these items had been on display for a while.
Although there were stalls with a "nouvelle collection," as a whole, the market felt like it was like a Salvation Army. Where someone's old junk becomes another's "treasure." I walked away with purchases that I think probably came from the bottom of some Frenchman's closet. And someday it will become junk that came from the bottom of some American woman's closet.