When you start to think about life in France and what the typical components are then you are likely to come up with Paris fashion, fine French foods sustained by their traditional French food markets, French wine perhaps, maybe the cosmopolitan lifestyle or the cafe culture in every town, they are after all major components of the the French way of life as seen by the outside world.

I have been living here for a little while now and I have found a new (well to me anyway) and very important element of French Life, the 'Vide Grenier'.

What is a vide grenier I hear you say? Well in a word it is France's answer to the car boot sale in the UK, it is an event that takes place all throughout the summer at any town worth its salt, in turn of course because you can't have them all on the same day, way too much competition.

But this is not like the British car boot sale where you are committed to a cold damp field on the outskirts of a town or village and have to trudge through the mud at 9 O'clock in the morning to get anything worth having because by 9.30 anything that was worth having has gone. No this is the 'vide grenier' which actually means, when literally translated, 'empty attic' but in translation becomes an attic sale and is primarily for the sale of antiques or 'brocante' as the French call it.

Anyway I digress, the 'Vide Grenier' takes over the whole town in much the same way as the coveted French food markets, every nook and cranny has a table, every street full of tables, every table full of nick knacks and old peculiar's.

Yes there is a semi-professional air to the proceedings, you do get the feeling some of these stalls tour around the regions and appear at all the best do's, but that's no different to the car boot sales in the UK. There are of course the amateur participants as well and I have to be honest a vast array of products to choose from at what seems to be very reasonable prices.

So the next time you are thinking I need a new chandelier or bedside table and need to go to IKEA then think again, think 'Vide Grenier', because you are almost sure to get a better product that might even be an antique and at a way better price.

So there you have it, our first official 'vide grenier' which was held at Auriac sur Vendinelle in the Midi Pyrenees. France can be proud, I thought I lost my virginity for most things years ago.

It was a bit of an eye opener, they certainly know how to do their 'Brocante' selling in France, I can be honest when I said 'yes that will be a nice way to spend a Sunday morning' I was expecting about 3 tables full of junk, which we could quickly dismiss, a quick meander around the town and then a nice cold beer at the nearest cafe.

I didn't really expect to find a whole town covered from head to foot in trestle tables selling everything from garden tools to fine porcelain. Still, it made the wife very happy, for her it was better than that day out at IKEA even if we didn't get any of those funny little meat ball things or a cold beer in the end. It took so long to get around it all we had to shoot off straight after so that we could get back to take the dog for a walk before his legs platted.

We did manage one or two bargains, a bronze light fitting for 5€ and a wooden tray for 2€, you would never have got it for that price in the shops. I did finally get my beer as well but it was out of my fridge and we sat on our terrace to drink it, still the view wasn't too bad from there, probably better than in the town if I am honest.

Actually this could be a nice place for a holiday in France, come to think of it.