I love the brocante and am thrilled to see AT taking on Paris! And yes, negotiate. In my experience, most dealers come down even more than 15% and like the haggle.

Yes! More AT Paris!

Thanks Kristin!

Any recommendations for French furniture/design blogs?

Hi Jonathan,

For a start, take a look at www.designaparis.com (for news and trends) and marieclairemaison.com (click on "petits espaces" for cool small spaces à la française!).

More to come, hopefully, on AT Paris!

I bought a crystal chandelier in/at Cligancourt several years ago. It's sitting in my garage waiting to be rewired and cleaned up. It haunts me. I have been unable to find someone to rewire and put fresh "candle sticks" on it that doesn't want to charge an arm and a leg and a breast or two. Now I must go cry.

oh my!! the marieclairemaison site is OUTSTANDING. why must the french always have such lovely bathrooms? i covet them all! so so jealous.

Thanks, Kristin - I'll check 'em out.

I've been poking around in cyberspace.fr for a while, and really haven't found anything like AT. I mean, on this page, we've got not only a curated article, but also advertisements for decor-oriented consumers, plus a brilliant selection of design-related links. I've just bought an incredibly tiny apartment (actually round the corner from you, Kristin, on rue Malher), and now that I'm going to be buying furniture and decorating, I'm completely out of my depth. What's the French equivalent of West Elm? What's their CB2?

We NEED AT Paris!

Jonathan,

It's true, there isn't anything like AT here or in French.

The closest thing to West Elm or CB2 is Habitat -- good for apt-sized basics (www.habitat.fr). The BHV (www.bhv.fr) has just about everything you need for the home and is right around the corner from your new place. And there is always IKEA, very popular with the French. If you like vintage stuff, the brocantes are a great source. I know people who have furnished their entire apartments with a daytrip to the Ham Brocante. And there are many fabulous boutiques, many in the Marais, which I will hopefully be writing about here in weeks to come.

I moved to Paris 12 years ago with two suitcases and can vouch for the fact that the great pleasure of furnishing a Paris apartment is in taking your time, window-shopping, and letting things come together. Don't forget that small is the norm here, so you will have no trouble finding furniture and accessories adapted to your space. And if you are looking for anything in particular, let me know and I'll be happy to suggest some addresses.

Am I the only one interested in the ham? Kristin, what can you tell us about the different types of ham at the Brocante?

Chip,

The Ham Brocante was modeled after the medieval Foire aux Lards, which peddled all things cochon. The modern-day event offers charcuterie, boudin noir, and whole legs of cured black-footed ham poised on wooden carving stands. The biggest crowd is always outside of Jambon a L’os. It's run by a Santa and Mrs. Claus-like couple who serve up baguette sandwiches made of lean ham shoulder braised until it is falling off the bone, accompanied by grilled endive, onions, tomatoes and mushrooms. It’s worth the trip alone.

Thanks for the suggestions, Kristin - I had intended using BHV as my Home Depot substitute, but I'd forgotten about Habitat! (Their website is AWFUL, btw, full of cutesy Flash animation and music, but almost devoid of *facts* about the products!)

I'm also a fan of Muji on Clos des Blancs-Manteaux, and, soon, Times Square!

I'd press you for more, but I'm sure you want to wait until AT Paris is up and running. And I can wait, too - I'm still in the pre-demolition phase of my reno.

Looking forward tremendously to AT Paris!

J.

That braised shoulder sounds worth the trip. I too am excited about the NYC store. My friend in Paris will no longer have to mail those small notebooks to me.

My God, I sure went for overkill with the exclamation marks in my last post.