It’s A Wonderful Life at the Paris Flea Market

Today’s episode is filled with excitement and holiday cheer as Toma Clark Haines, CEO of The Antiques Diva & Co,  visits with long-time associates, Danielle and Jean Pierre Pelletier, giving Jean Pierre a spontaneous (yet official) on-air promotion to Chief Operating Officer – realizing the title is long overdue. Christmas means family, and, as part of Toma’s “found family,” Danielle and Jean Pierre have been working with the company for a decade bringing excellence and enthusiasm to clients wishing to have the Paris Flea Market experience.

Danielle’s official title is the Director of Trade Operations, and she has been the lead Paris guide for The Antiques Diva and Co for ten years. Her passion and love for antiques and specifically the Paris Flea Market are ringing in at 50 years. She has been haunting the flea market since she was only seventeen, a student with no money to make purchases, but with eyes planning for a life in antiques. At twenty she began purchasing small items at the Paris Flea Market and has been hooked ever since. She brings every bit of that experience and passion with her as she helps clients find just that special thing they are looking for.

Toma asks Danielle to describe her job and the passion is self-evident. “I have the best job in the world. I am so happy to live the life I have now. I love my job for the fact that I go to the flea market every single weekend of the year.” (Unless she’s on holiday, of course.) “I love to take clients. I love to speak with clients, to make them laugh, to make their acquaintance and make friends. I have very good relationships with the vendors, with the clients, and a very good relationship with you, Toma,” Danielle says sweetly, and this truth is an understatement. Danielle quickly clarifies, however, “When I say ‘I’ I mean we. Jean Pierre and I do everything together.” Another understatement would be to say what a much loved fixture this couple is at the Paris Flea Market.

Jean Pierre shares joyously at how the vendors greet them at the market, many who have become old friends. “‘Come In!’ They say. ‘We drink!’ And of course I never refuse them!” Jean Pierre laughs merrily. Toma asks Jean Pierre to explain what he does, and Toma is unsurprised to hear him say, “Well, the main thing is to try and follow up with what you’re doing and kind of sweep behind and tie up the loose ends. From the start, I contact the clients, tell them what we’re doing, and put them in relationship with the guides, follow up with all the bad accounting work that has to follow and make sure that everything is well oiled and works well for everybody.” Toma laughs and says, “In short, J.P. lassos a tornado!” Which happens to be appropriate as he is the only French cowboy she knows. Toma, who is originally from Oklahoma and grew up on a ranch with a father who is a cowboy, was most delighted when she met JP and Danielle and discovered an unexpected season in their life was running a large ranch in Calgary, Alberta. The couple lived in Canada on the ranch for fifteen years and continued to travel between Canada and Paris, France for another twenty. 

Toma’s initial fear before meeting JP and Danielle for potential employment through a trange and fascinating set of events (that you will have to listen to the episode to be privy to!) was that they would be “too French” - -not having enough experience with the North American market. “It is important that my diva guides understand the local culture, but they also need to not only speak the actual language of our clients (who are largely from the United States) but also the mental language of our clients, as well. Danielle and Jean Pierre as native Parisians with a passion for the Paris Flea Market not only filled the French culture bill but also had a clear understanding and ability to relate to the company’s North American clients as well, thanks to their time as Canadian cowboys!

The rest of this merry episode is filled with a detailed rundown of why you should book a Paris Flea Market Tour and what you, as an antique dealer or simply collector, can expect from an Antiques Diva tour and how a day tour is so much more than that (and exactly why they have repeat clients that come again and again.) A LOT goes into a one-day tour. “When a client pays for a one day tour, it’s important that the client understands that it is not just one day of work. It’s several days dealing with the vendors and shippers to make everybody happy if I can…It’s a very long work to make things go as smoothly as possible for the client,” explains Danielle. “We’re not just guides, we are also friends who will help them get the best of their trip to the antiques world and it’s a wonderful job!”

When Toma asks Danielle “What do you think is the biggest advantage of hiring you as a Paris Flea Market guide?” Danielle’s answer says it all. “First of all, I think we are like a living map of the flea market. The client, for instance, wants to buy a desk and has very specific things they are wanting. I know exactly where to take the clients to find what they are wanting – whether it is at the flea market or beyond. 90% of the time we find what the client wants. It is so big and so complicated if you don’t know the area – it’s complicated to find what you want in a little amount of time. We save them time and we save them money.” And, because they are at the market weekly, it’s not just “this vendor used to have this,” Danielle and Jean Pierre know that if a client wants a chest of drawers, they know the exact places to look right now! “The second thing is to find the right thing at the right price. It would be more expensive for a tourist to find it by themselves and the price would not be the same as when they give the price to someone with whom they have an individual relationship with.” Toma interjects, “One of the things I want to be sure our listeners know is that we only, as a company, survived the pandemic because you guys, as my team, went out and worked for free going out into the market. You guys helped keep the company alive during this period.” And it’s all because that’s what families do for one another. Danielle comforts, “This company may be your baby, but we feel like the godmother and godfather of it! It’s true, we feel we are responsible for what happens to the company in our small part of the market in Paris. We are part of this team for good.” Their kindred spirits are more than apparent and the fact that their hearts beat to the same drum comes through loud and clear.  

Jean Pierre and Danielle bring a joie de vivre to everything they do. It is just part of what makes them family. Toma may have been raised in Oklahoma and the Pelletier’s in Paris, but they are clearly connected – if not by blood, then by champagne!

This episode has been brought to you The Antiques Diva & Co Paris Flea Market Tours https://antiquesdiva.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/AD-PARIS-BROCHURE-low-res.pdf

The Original Paris Flea Market Tour Saturday & Sunday 10am-6pm // Half Day or Full Day Tour. Let our expert Antiques Guides pick you up at your hotel and take you to the famed Puce de Paris St Ouen (Paris Flea Market), complete with 15 districts, over 2,000 vendors, and 7 miles of alleyways! It’s easy for one to get lost in the maze of alleys and streets, but our guides know the market like the back of their hand. We weave into nooks and crannies you’d never find on your own. We custom plan a route based on your style and budget, maximizing your time and money. Our Guides have relationships with many vendors and translate and negotiate on your behalf. When the tour is concluded, we can liaise you with a preferred shipper to get your items home.