whitewoman

We arrive in Paris on Sunday and are staying for 14 days. We are trying to decide which day of the week to leave Paris and tour Provence. I understand the market is open Sat. and Sunday. Is one day better than the other for antiques? This is a must!!! (for me, that is)

Would love to visit Lyon as well but afraid we don't have enough time.
We are considering 4 days Paris, 5 days Provence and the 4 days back in Paris.

This is our first visit to Paris.
I would appreciate any suggestions.

Thank you.

tuscanlifeedit

I hope to read some feedback on Isle sur la Sorgue myself, as we are going there in May.

Let me say this, whitewoman, why not put more time in Paris all at once, and more time in Provence, too. Say a week, each?

whitewoman

We don't have open jaw tickets and thought the split might be more interesting-

Christina

As far as I know, the antique market is only on Sundays. The only market on Saturdays that I know is the brocante, which is junk, more or less. I find all those brocante markets to be pretty similar in France. They also have the food etc market on some days, like Sunday and Thursday mornings.

StuDudley

The market that has "all the stuff" (food, fabric, crafts, soap, brocante, antiques) is Sunday morning. The market closes up around 1:00, except for the permanent antique shops on the opposite side of the ring road. I don't know if the Brocant shops along the sidewalk on the old town side of the ring road stays open after lunch - I've never been there. Here is a link to the Antique shops in l'Isle sur la Sorgue and a map.

http://antiquite-islesursorgue.com/

I don't agree with Christina about the brocante market being junk - although this kind of stuff is always "in the eye of the beholder". We've seen a lot of good collectibles there - better than most other Brocante markets in France. My wife has purchased some enamelware there, and some seltzer bottles. There are not any bargains, however.

Stu Dudley

Sher

Deb. Plan on spending a lot of time looking around. There is so much to see.
Parking is pretty scarce.
We have framed linen kitchen towels that we bought there hanging in the Florida house. There were very inexpensive, but make lovely wall hangings.
Have a blast.

tuscanlifeedit

Hey Sher

We are thinking of actually staying in Isle sur la Sorgue (as soon as we figure out how to pronounce it!) so that we don't have to find parking on market day.

It also seems like an excellent base for visiting the Luberon villages. We had been thinking of St Remy, but I think we would be better placed in Isle sur la Sorgue. Got any feedback?

deb

Ronda

This is a great market; have everything you could ever hope to shop for at a market but it is very crowded. While we were walking around a couple of English gentlemen warned my husband to watch his wallet because someone had tried to pick pocket them.

Fredonia15

One thing I would point out about your plans - you're going to spend almost two days traveling back and forth and getting settled in hotels etc. I would recommend Paris for a week to see the highlights then go to Provence. You're going to love it. Unless you're a dealer I think that the antique market will be a disappointment. Look at other towns in Provence as well. St. Remy is lovely and we had a great time in Arles with lots of day trips. You might also want to look at Vaison la Romaine, where the woman who writes the Born to Shop books lives. It has a great market on Saturday.
A totally different idea might be to go to Normandy and Brittany, Giverney's Garden, Mont St. Michel, lots of quaint towns named for Cheeses or what about the Loire Valley, one of the most romantic places I've ever been. Both of these will require less travel time. Personally I'd do one of them and save Provence for a longer trip all by itself.
Whatever you decide you've got a great trip coming. Enjoy and let us know how it went.
Marian

Sher

Hi Deb.
We stayed near but not in St. Remy and traveled all over the place easily.

I cannot give you advice about staying there. We only spent time at the market. Quite a lot of time I seem to recall.

I cannot pronounce it either. My French is deplorable.

cigalechanta

sunday is the big day for the brocante, a huge flea market that is along the Sorgue. But the true antiques are in the buildings all over the Isle-Sur-la=Sorgue. Though I can't afford them, I always go to look and absorb.

Jan57

Recently returned from France and Italy and we spent 5 days in Isle Sur la Sorgue doing various day trips around the region. Went to the big market there on Sunday and it was packed. We chose to stay at Hotel les Nevons a few blocks away as they had parking for our car and we could walk to the market. The market is great fun but the antiques are terribly expensive. First thing I did--went local and got myself a cute market basket to put all my purchases in. Have fun!

PBProvence

As you've already been told, the antiques and food market is on Sunday. The antiques shops - and there are tons of them - are open on Saturday, Sunday and Monday - most of them are closed the rest of the week.

It has become expensive - but if you love antiques, you'll love Isle sur la Sorgue !

You might also want to visit the weekly brocante on Saturday mornings in Villeneuve lez Avignon... I still find some "great finds" once in awhile, and I go almost every Saturday morning.

Patricia

Gretchen

I think what some posters are encouraging you to do is consolidate your time in Paris and in Provence rather than going back and forth. You can either get the TGV direct to Provence from CDG and then come back to Paris and leave or you can go to Paris, take the TGV from Paris to Provence and return to CDG for your trip home. We much prefer to spend our time this way rather than breaking it up and moving in and out of hotels, etc.

PamSF

We did buy some great things at the Sunday Market in Isle sur la Sorgue. The etching of Diana, the huntress, hangs in our living room at this moment and I eat regularly off the 5 euro plate I bought there. I've heard the market in Lyon is very good(this from someone who has a business selling antiques).