Pinoys, others troop to Europe's 'largest flea market'
By LOUI GALICIA
ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau
The first weekend of September, despite being very busy with most of the summer vacationers returning home from their holidays and with students preparing for the start of the new school year, over a million people including Pinoys, still managed to travel from all over Europe to a small town in France.
Lille, which is near the border of Belgium, is home to "La Grande Braderie," considered as the largest flea market in Europe.
People flock to the streets to browse the seemingly endless stalls that line around 200 kilometers of pavements throughout Lille.
For antique lovers, like a Pinoy couple from Brussels, this is the place to go hunt for paintings and various antique items like clocks, furniture and decorative pieces.
Sammy Ambrocio has made the one-and-a-half-hour drive from Brussels as a pilgrimage to Lille every year with his wife.
“Nagtitingin ako ng antiques dito kasi nandito ang pinaka-malaking braderie sa buong France. Dinadayo namin 'to. Marami na kaming nabili,” Ambrosio said.
Hiking through the never-ending line of stalls and squeezing into the thick crowd, one can be amused finding very odd and old collectors’ items such as a French woman’s magazine that was dated 1950 and old coins, beer glasses, helmets, giant perfume bottles, toys, cars and pins.
Thousands of stalls sell just about anything, even junk.
Ambrocio’s wife, Jopay, who says she is a sucker for antiques, always goes to this flea market because she finds a lot of the older stuff here than in Belgium.
“Nagtitingin ng mga lumang gamit. Mas luma [dito] kesa sa Belgium,” she said.
Belgium is also known for flea markets and the most popular is the regular weekend antique market at Le Grand Sablon, considered as one of Europe’s best.
Pinoys, however, go to Lille for its carnival-like atmosphere and because of children's rides, countless beer stands and restaurants serving specialty dishes.
And at the end of the day, Pinoys go home, bringing with them not only the antiques that they have bought but also the stories for behind these items.
SOURCE: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com
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