Page 26 of A French Inheritance
Lucy had suggested that she picked Briony up Monday morning from the cottage. ‘No point in dragging you up here when I’m going to be driving past your door. Nine o’clock okay?’
Briony was waiting outside the front door of the cottage as Lucy drove down. ‘Good morning,’ Lucy said brightly. ‘Hope you had a good weekend?’
‘Yes, thanks. I made a start on sorting out the cottage. Moving furniture around, putting some of Giselle’s things into boxes.
I will have to decide what to do with them later, but for now I’ve squeezed some of them into the garage.
The rest are in the sitting room.’ She sighed.
‘I hadn’t realised Granny was such a hoarder. ’
‘House clearing can be hard,’ Lucy said sympathetically. ‘I’ll make my way to Forville Market whilst you go to the cash machine. We can meet up there and you might find somebody who can come and do a mini house clearance for you. Take away the furniture you decide not to keep.’
‘Thanks, good idea. How was your Sunday?’
‘Busy. Those tweaks you did to the website and the social media promo posts you did seem to have garnered us some attention. Lots of likes and visits to the website. I’m hoping there will be a couple of bookings as a result later today.’
Once in Cannes, Lucy parked as close to the market as she could, and pointed out the street where Briony would find the cash machine. ‘See you in the market.’
Briony made for the cash machine and joined the queue of three people.
Putting the cash safely in her bag, she made for the market hoping that she’d have time to have a quick look around before Lucy was ready to leave.
Despite the noisy foreign chatter around her, Briony felt herself relax.
Alongside the auctions for Raise Your Hand, she’d also organised mini festivals and markets like this one had been in her life for years.
Lots of stalls with a mixture of antiques and bric-a-brac, a rare book stand, lovely French linens and artisans offering furniture restoration services.
She wandered around for a few moments, soaking up the atmosphere before stopping by a stall with smaller objet d’art nicely arranged on a velvet cloth.
Briony smiled at the woman standing behind the stand as she looked at a small brass antique French carriage clock, priced at two hundred and fifty euros.
‘ Bonjour. Can I help you?’ the woman said.
Before Briony could answer, Lucy was at her side. ‘Hi, are we ready to hit the supermarché ?’
Briony nodded and picked up one of the business cards that were on the table. ‘ Merci. Do you have a shop in town?’
The woman shook her head. ‘No shop – business rents are too expensive. I’m here every week and also in Antibes in summer.’
‘Thanks again,’ and Briony turned away, not wanting to delay Lucy, who was clearly ready to leave. ‘Sorry I didn’t mean to keep you waiting,’ she apologised. ‘I tend to forget the time in places like this. I was in my element.’
‘Did you find anyone to help clear the cottage?’
‘No, I was so busy looking at actual items for sale that I forgot to look.’
Briony was quiet for the short journey to the big out-of-town supermarché situated above Antibes.
‘Penny for them?’ Lucy said, glancing at her as she drove into a parking place.
‘They’re worth more than a penny,’ Briony smiled. ‘I’ve had an idea that I need to think through properly before I discuss it with anyone. Quite possibly it could be the stupidest idea I’ve ever had, in which case I shall never tell a soul.’
‘Okay. Let’s shop before it gets too busy,’ Lucy said.
Pushing a large trolley each they made for the store and did just that.
An hour later both trolleys were filled, although Briony’s took the prize for containing the most diverse shopping.
DIY stuff, like pots of paint, sandpaper, brushes nails, hammer, a battery-driven screwdriver, all were nestled in with the food shopping.
‘Can I treat you to coffee and cake, or even an early lunch as a thank you?’ Briony said, once it was all loaded in Lucy’s car.
‘I’d better get back,’ Lucy said regretfully. ‘I’ve a mountain of emails to sort through. We’ll have lunch out another time.’
Once she was home, and the shopping was put away, Briony made herself a coffee, opened a packet of choc chip cookies and sat out on the terrace in the sunshine, turning her idea over and over in her head.
Wandering around the market this morning, she’d had what she could only think of as a light-bulb moment. Could she become a brocante trader in France? Buy things and sell them in markets.
She’d have to start slowly. Get to know her customer base, their likes and dislikes.
Different things would appeal to the Riviera tourists in the summer – things they could carry easily on the flight home.
Although not an expert on anything she knew a little about lots of items. She had an eye for good quality and she’d surprised herself this morning wandering around how little bits of knowledge about certain pieces had drifted into her mind.
That little brass carriage clock, early nineteenth century by a French horologist, was a case in point.
She knew the woman had seriously underpriced it.
It was worth double what she was selling it for.
Briony knew because a similar one had gone through the auction rooms a couple of months ago, not in as good a condition and without its original leather carrying case which the one in the market came with.
The thought of being her own boss and doing something she loved was quite intoxicating.
Getting an entrepreneur business of selling second-hand items off the ground would take a lot of planning and hard work, which she knew she was more than capable of doing.
One of the biggest questions that would need answering early on was did she need a shopfront?
Or could she just have a stall in various markets throughout the year?
Another question was – where would she find stock?
Briony laughed out loud. So many of Giselle’s things she’d been boxing up would be regarded as collectable by other people. She already had more than enough stock to start her off in fact.
Finishing her coffee, Briony stood up. She’d keep mulling it over for a few days, get everything straight in her mind before mentioning it to anyone. What she really needed to do this week was to find herself some transport. Time to do some serious searching of the internet.