Last week I told you I was off for a weekend in Rouen, the primary purpose of which was moving some furniture, but I was also hoping to find a bit of time for a sneaky junk shop or two. Rouen, it turns out, is known as something of an antiques capital, and sure enough the narrow cobbled streets and alleyways in the oldest part of the town were full of rather swanky shops selling things you definitely wouldn’t want to accidentally knock over and break (yes, that did nearly happen. I have a huge puffa coat that’s an absolute liability in any well-stocked antique shop).

The town, and especially the old heart of it, is absolutely charming, with the wood-framed buildings higgledy-piggledy strangers to a spirit-level, all painted in gorgeous subdued colour combinations. The shops were great too, but a bit posh for my purse. On the Sunday we found our way to a car boot sale in a small town nearby. The fella bought some 60s French pop records and had a hot-dog so don’t let him get away with telling you the trip was all about me. Anyway, on my return I found a waiting blog comment from my cousin, herself no stranger to a car boot or a junk yard. She and her husband are currently doing an epic do-over of a place in France. Her tip was to check out this place, Troc, if I really wanted to grab a bargain.

I’d never heard of it, and as my French is pretty, erm, mal… I’m not certain I’ve totally got the concept. But it seems to be like a big eBay but with stores to visit too. You can search the website just like eBay, but unlike eBay it doesn’t seem to be taken over with shops and pros. And I think all sales go through the stores, rather than emailing with vendors (but I’m happy to be corrected on this by someone who actually parlez the Francais.) It looks brilliant though – page after page of French car-boot style stuff, from antique upholstered beds to countless Johnny Hallyday-branded novelty items.

I have only just started looking through the oil paintings for sale, and the vases – random sample of findings above –  but I can tell you there are currently 11,972 vases for sale on the site – just search under ‘Decorative Knick-Knacks’. Doesn’t it look brilliant? Next time I go to France I’m going to track one down and go for a blissful wander with a tape measure. What about you – have you ever been?