La Braderie!

What in the world is la braderie???? When you search for the translation, a single word that tells you what it is in English, it does not exist in this case. This is what happens very often in translation (another reason why no one should EVER trust a google/bing/etc translator). It's all about context, context, CONTEXT!

For those who can understand le français ;) here is a dictionary translation of une braderie:

• Foire annuelle au cours de laquelle les habitants vendent à bas prix des vêtements ou autres objets usagés.
• Vente de soldes souvent hors boutique par les commerçants d'une ville.

Whaaat? Okay, basically a braderie is several different things rolled up in one, and can be translated as: 

a garage/yard sale, a clearance/liquidation sale, a discount shop or store

 

In France, most people don't have yards or even a garage for that matter, so one to three times per year, the city allows braderie organizers to shut down an entire neighborhood from traffic. Regular folks and retail folk rent a certain number of meters that have been marked numerically by spray-paint on the curb, and everyone gets up before the crack of dawn and sets up camp to sell their offerings. It's not only a street garage/discount store sale, but a huge social event as well with food stands and camaraderie.

After one of my fabulous Frenchy friends saw my recent facebook status updates with the gofundme campaign, etc, she invited me to join her little stand at the latest braderie in the historic center in Rennes. It was a gorgeous day, and hot. We got hit by the sun for several hours. We were sandwiched between a couple of what I call professional braderers who turned out to be very friendly and helpful by sharing their parasols with us to help protect us from the blazing sun. 

I did my best to snap a few photos, but I often was very busy and we both had to keep an eye on our things like a hawk as a couple of our neighbors did end up having some items stolen.... 

I also encountered real cultural differences when confronted by North Africans who didn't want to pay you for anything... Argh! That was quite an experience. I refused to let things go to those who didn't want to pay a dime - and they could be pushy, let me tell ya! I often held my ground, but there was one person from this culture who got away with one of my items for much less than its value. Grrr. But, I can't complain. The overall camaraderie between fellow braderie neighbors and the different characters we encountered who bought (or tried to buy for nothing) our items was indescribable. In spite of the ultimate thrifty buyers out there, the day overall was very successful. I managed to get rid of stuff and had some cash in my pocket to buy groceries and things we needed for the month.

I could write an entire book on this one single day alone. 

I would just like to take a moment to shout out a huge MERCI BEAUCOUP to Laetita who not only took some gorgeous photos of Ophelia in her beautiful studio, but also helped get me in gear to start dealing with the reality of packing and letting go of stuff. This blog article in particular is dedicated to TOI, Laetitia! Autrement dit, cet article en particulier est dédié à toi, ma chèr' Laetita! Big bisous!

And so, without further ado, the photos!

Our little stand filled with our offerings :)

Me and fabulous fellow photographer, Laetitia, who graciously invited me to share the stand with her. She totally rocks!

Managed to get one shot of the general street atmosphere :)

Lots of camaraderie even between the babes! ;)