Montbrand Car boot sale

The Montbrand Car Boot Sale

The Montbrand Festival Committee organizes a car boot sale every spring in this tiny perched village of the Buëch, on the road to the Col de la Haute Beaume. The originality of this event lies in the free pitch for exhibitors, an initiative that encourages participation in this rural mountain area.

Montbrand, a perched hamlet in the Buëch

Montbrand is a hamlet of a few dozen inhabitants located in the commune of Aspres-sur-Buëch, at the crossroads of the Petit Buëch and Grand Buëch valleys. Perched on the heights, the village offers panoramic views of the surrounding mountains and wooded valleys. The Col de la Haute Beaume, nearby, connects the Buëch to the Trièves and is a popular route for cyclists.

What to find at the stalls?

Exhibitors offer a wide range of second-hand items: old crockery, trinkets, frames and mirrors, books and magazines, toys, clothes, small appliances, tools, sports equipment, vinyl records and CDs, linens, and decorative items. In the Hautes-Alpes, you can also regularly find typical mountain objects: old agricultural tools, cowbells, Savoyard furniture, vintage skis, snowshoes, and hiking equipment. Prices are generally very attractive, making these car boot sales an economical and ecological alternative to buying new.

The Hautes-Alpes, a land of flea markets and car boot sales

The Hautes-Alpes department, the least populated in metropolitan France, compensates for its low density with a particularly dynamic associative life. From March to October, car boot sales and flea markets punctuate the life of Alpine villages, offering as many opportunities to hunt for treasures as to meet neighbors. The summer season, with the influx of tourists and holidaymakers, multiplies the opportunities: passing visitors gladly stop to rummage through the stalls, sometimes discovering unsuspected Alpine treasures. The exceptional mountain setting of the department adds a unique dimension to these events, with grandiose panoramas and the pure mountain air.

An authentic village car boot sale

The atmosphere of the Montbrand car boot sale is resolutely rural and friendly. Exhibitors set up their stalls on the departmental road and on the outskirts of the village. The low population density of the area gives this event an intimate and warm character, far from the hustle and bustle of large urban markets.