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If you stand on the corner of N. Peters and Barracks Streets, right in front of the Old US Mint, you're faced with an combination of a fully open-air marketplace and a covered shelter with lots of tables and booths underneath, all selling a wide range of goods. This is the French Market's 'Community Flea Market.'
When it started in 1971, the Community Flea Market was just that, a place where folks in the community could set up tables and sell their stuff. Sometimes that stuff was just outright junk, and other times the items for sale were quality goods at bargain basement, neighbor-to-neighbor prices. My dad used to love to take us down to the Flea Market on Sunday afternoons. He'd dig around for electronics junk, and we'd get to explore others' pasts. It's a bit more difficult to do this now, since there isn't much "community" in the "Community Flea Market" these days. Most, if not all, of those selling goods in the Flea Market these days are small businesses who are there every day of the week. I suspect that this is the case because the city is imposing rentals on the space that make it impossible for an amateur to set up shop on a weekend and sell their old stuff. The open-air atmosphere of the Flea Market still remains, however; it's just the merchandise (t-shirts, ball-point pens, leather goods, watches, etc.) isn't nearly as fascinating as it used to be. I can't be entirely negative about the Flea Market, of course, since I got a great fountain pen for eight bucks a few months back.
So, the guy with all the old military medals may be gone, as well as the lady selling Carnival doubloons, but the place is still crowded. The sounds of the crowd are still the same, from folks chatting about their visits to the city to locals trying to decide whether to get a muffeletta at Central or Progress Grocery. The type of merchandise notwithstanding, the sights are still pretty much the same as well. The covered portion of the Flea Market is always filled, and many of the outdoor table spaces are occupied on weekdays. On weekends, the entire area is packed.
If you're in the market for a souvenir, or something little like a wallet or pen, enjoy your browse through the Flea Market's tables. When you're finished, it's time to cross from the covered shelter of the Flea Market into the first section of the Farmer's Market, the next part of our French Market Walking Tour.
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