(Ever heard of a flea market with 10,000 stalls, stretching 100 kms long ?Know everything about such a market, that takes place every September in the French city of Lille ! Welcome to Braderie de Lille)
Braderie de Lille is arguably the biggest and the finest flea market of Europe that takes place on the first weekend of September every year in the pleasant city of Lille (pronounced Lee’ll) on the French – Belgian border.
It’s not just a massive flea market – it’s a giant party that starts around 2 p.m. Saturday and goes past lunch time the next day. Without stopping, this flea market goes on through the night.
The origin of this flea market goes back to 12th century, when masters allowed their servants to sell unwanted household stuff, and it has remained a nearly unbroken city tradition since then.
Lille is closed to traffic that weekend as more than 10,000 ametuer sellers set up their stands on city streets, running 100 kms long, if arranged as a single strip. 2.5 million eager bargain hunters rummage their way through, looking for what they want and often buying what they don’t want.
The flea market is divided into areas by seller or by type of object being sold and the local authorities publish a map to aid visitors. The elegant Grand Place in the city centre area, named after former French President Charles de Gaulle, who was born in Lille, is always reserved for the best boutique shops.
Bars, cafés, brasseries, restaurants do a roaring trade. Lille is a foodie paradise, but at the Braderie, the emphasis is always on the local dish ‘moules-et-frites’ (mussels and chips). In fact, there is an unoffocial competition to see who has done the best business, by measuring the height of mussel shells mountains built outside their premises.
A 10 km Marathon, music concerts add vibrancy to the ‘Queen of Flea Markets’ called ‘Braderie de Lille’.
So when you plan your next visit to France, go there in September. And do not forget to add Lille in your itinerary.
(Next week : Lumbini, Nepal – the birth place of the Buddha)
World Heritage 