аÄÃÅ¿ª½±½á¹û

Nicolas Martin – travel blogger

Every other week, Discover Walks will share with some great insight from Travel bloggers from around the world who fell in love with Paris. They will share their favorites addresses and things to do while in Paris. Because genuine advice and stories are so important to us, in addition to our born-and-raised Parisian tour stories, we now bring you real advice from fellow travelers.

Bonjour Nicolas, can you tell us more about who you are?

Bonjour, I’m Nicolas Martin, I am 39 years old and originally from Paris, France. I now live since 2011 in the beautiful city of Vienna in Austria!

Photo credit: Jacques Froissant

Why did you start writing ?

I’ve always liked old objects that carry an emotional (hi)story. I started Flea Market Insiders back in 2010 as a showcase for my weekly flea market finds and as a log to recount my flea market wandering around Europe. And since I was working for an antique dealer back then, I had quite a few opportunities to do so and some great road-trip stories to tell!

From a handful of followers & enthusiast, has grown since then to more than 90,000 visitors every month, and as a source of reference for flea markets often cited by top tier media in Europe and in the US.

Why did you start traveling?

Traveling has always been a big part of my life, and of who I am. Before I turned 7, I had lived in places worlds apart: from Paris to Central Africa, before moving to Nice and then Corsica.

I think being exposed from an early age to different cultures, languages, (climates!) and foods, helps develop a natural curiosity and a taste for travel.

Over the past fifteen years, I have lived and worked in Paris, New York, Mexico City, Linz, Brussels and Vienna. And I don’t get tired of traveling (particularly when it means going flea market shopping!), even if I nowadays I mostly split my time “only” between Paris and Vienna.

Photo credit: Nicolas Martin

What’s special about your blog?

Flea Market Insiders is special in the sense that it is one (of not so many) blog(s) exclusively dedicated to flea markets. Since 2010, we’ve covered or reviewed more than 400 flea markets from around the world, and counting! Basically we decided to focus our attention on flea markets, because we noticed that there was not a place on the Internet where flea markets were comprehensively & systematically centralized. And we finally achieved this endeavor, when we launched last year, , an interactive map featuring the world’s best flea markets.

What would be your top 3 things to do in Paris?

• Spend a Saturday morning at the puces de Vanves (14th arrondissement): Usually tourists head straight to the Puces de St-Ouen, the biggest flea market in the city. But if you’re on the search for somewhere more relaxed, then a suitable alternative is Vanves flea market. Hidden in a quiet corner of the city, this friendly flea market established in the early 20th century, hosts around 350 vendors, who sell vintage goods and antiques for very fair and reasonable prices.
• If you happen to be hanging around near the Sentier in Paris, don’t miss your chance to soak in the rue Montorgueil’s bustling atmosphere while sampling French cheeses and straight-from-the-oven baguettes. The rue Montorgueil is a pedestrianized shopping street lined with quintessentially Parisian bakeries, butchers, cobblers, cafés, cheese- and fishmongers, florists and grocers. There’s so much to see, that this street even has its own Food Walking Tour! And if you’re hungry, the Rocher de Cancale and its sunny terrace is definitely the place where you want to eat!
• Spend a couple of hours at Drouot, one of the oldest institutions within the world of public auction house sales, to browse stunning antiques and works of art.

Photo credit: Killerturnip

Your Top 3 good addresses in Paris?

• Les Apôtres de Pigalle: this restaurant is ranked #1 of 14,157 Restaurants in Paris, and it’s no wonder why! The food is French tapas style, and they offer great “charcuterie” and cheeses with excellent wine at very good prices (and delicious baguette!). The icing on the cake: Roland and Thibault make you feel as if you were a guest in their home! Make sure to make a reservation before showing up: the place is rather small and only accommodates a few tables.
• Le Caveau des Oubliettes: Housed in a deeply atmospheric medieval dungeon (which used to have a rather morbid reputation as it housed a guillotine that served during the French Revolution…) this maze of old stone and underground passages has become popular as a live music spot, a place to chill and listen to cool tunes. Mondays are Pop Rock Jam nights, while Tuesdays are all about Jazz.
• Tombées du Camion: Try and picture a place filled with wooden crates full of broken doll’s heads, skeleton keys, coffin handles, glass eyes, vintage postcards, empty spools, rusty pharmaceutical, pill boxes, and even packets of 1930s toilet paper. If you love bric-a-brac and try to avoid Paris’ (sometime) expensive flea markets and (grumpy) antiques dealers, then you might want to drop by this shop. For the past ten years, Charles, a former flea market dealer, has been touring old abandoned factories all over France, in search for unwanted items once manufactured in bulk. He now sells his finds in his two shops.

Your favorite landmark in Paris?

Probably the Champs de Mars (the long lawn stripe behind the Tour Eiffel when you’re facing it from the gardens of the Trocadéro). And precisely the lower part near the École Militaire. In spring and summer, it is a place of choice for an evening picnic with friends, or just to drink beers or some rosé/red wine.

What is your favorite neighborhood in Paris?

That’s a tough question! Well, I’d say the ÃŽle Saint Louis, which seems to sit apart from the tumults of the city and is the ideal place to unwind and stroll among the “bouquinistes”. And also because one of the restaurants with the most stunning view of Paris, the Kong, is a stone throw away from here.

Photo credit: Susan S

Could you give us your recommendation to first timers in Paris?

Learn these five words (and how to pronounce them) before you travel: “Bonjour” (hello), “au revoir” (good bye), “merci” (thank you), “s’il vous plaît” (please) and “désolé” (sorry / excuse me). This will definitely make your trip to Paris more enjoyable!

Despite all evidence to the contrary, Parisians are very mindful to manners (even if they seem to ignore you or sound arrogant). And if there’s one thing they despise, is a tourist who does not have the courtesy of addressing them at first in French. Once they notice French is not your cup of tea, but that you tried your best, they’ll chill and answer you in the King’s English, to your surprise.

Thank you so much Nicolas, keep on enjoying Paris!

Merci beaucoup :-)

C’est moi qui vous remercie :)