Sep'Arti Car Boot Sale of Vallouise-Pelvoux

The Sep'Arti Car Boot Sale: Hunting for Medical Research

The Sep'Arti association organizes a charity car boot sale each year in the parking lot of Vallouise town center, new municipality of Vallouise-Pelvoux. The profits are entirely donated to research against multiple sclerosis, a chronic neurological disease.

Vallouise-Pelvoux, in the heart of the Écrins

The municipality of Vallouise-Pelvoux is the southern gateway to the Écrins National Park, the largest mountain national park in metropolitan France. Dominated by the Barre des Écrins (4,102 m), the highest point of the Southern Alps, and the Pelvoux (3,946 m), the valley offers grandiose high mountain landscapes. The village of Vallouise, with its 15th-century church and traditional houses, is a jewel of Alpine heritage.

What to find at the stalls?

Exhibitors offer a wide range of second-hand items: old dishes, trinkets, frames and mirrors, books and magazines, toys, clothes, small appliances, tools, sports equipment, vinyl records and CDs, home textiles, and decorative objects. 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, generally very attractive, make these car boot sales an economical and ecological alternative to new consumption.

The Hautes-Alpes, 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 get together with neighbors. The summer season, with the influx of tourists and holidaymakers, multiplies the opportunities: passing visitors willingly 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 air of the summits.

A festive and solidarity event

Beyond the car boot sale, Sep'Arti offers activities throughout the day: contests, concerts, and children's shows. The atmosphere is festive and solidarity-based, in a spirit of sharing and mutual aid typical of the mountains.