l’objet qui parle – part I

l'objet qui parle, 86 rue des Martyrs, 75018 is one of my favorite stores in Paris. I have been frequenting this brocante (vintage store) of home décor for over a decade. I mention this because a few times when I made the trip to Montmartre it was unexpectedly not open. The opening hours seem to be a bit unpredictable, but it must tell you how good this store is if I keep going back even when I am not guaranteed it will be open. My first purchase I made was a set of aluminum canisters that still sit on my kitchen counter today. Each time I stop by the store I always seem to find something to buy, and fortunately – by Paris standards – the prices are fairly reasonable.

I think my most treasured finds from l'objet qui parle are several glass cloches that I use to hold family heirlooms. I spied the cloches in the store a while ago, but I wasn't sure I could get them safely back home to the States. So when we moved to Paris, I was determined to buy a few of the cloches and ship them home. I headed up to the store, found it open and was greeted by the owner (who spoke some English). I told him that I was interested in the glass cloches that were displayed in the store (there were at least two dozen). He told me that he actually had even more in his cave (basement storage room). The room had at least fifty cloches in all different shapes and sizes. I ended up buying four of them. The owner carefully packaged them for me and I was able to safely carry them home on the bus to my apartment. Unfortunately, not all of them made the move safely back to the States. But it makes me appreciate the ones I have and I hope someday I will be able to bring a few more home.

Of course, the store has much more than the cloches and the last time I stopped by I was able to snap quite a few pictures. Check back on Thursday for these photos.

As I mentioned the hours of business are a bit unpredictable. The last time I went to the store, I picked up a business card that listed the hours of operation. The store is open from 1:00pm to 7:30pm on Monday to Saturday. The card also included a cell phone number. If you make the trip up to Montmartre and the store is closed, I would call the number and I bet someone would be able to meet you at the store. The number listed is 06.09.67.05.30 (local) or +33 6 0967 0530 (international).