Art To Go

There's lots to do in Paris--some of it very expensive and so popular that the lines will remind you of Disney World. If you're looking for something different, fun, interesting, and cheap, check out the Drouot Auction House at 9 rue Drouot, near the Opéra and the Grands Boulevards. It's sixteen rooms, on three levels, filled with amazing items from vintage clothing and jewelry to comic books and home furnishings to paintings by unknowns and Old Masters. Some of the rooms have exhibits of the articles to be auctioned off later that day or the next day. While it's open all year, during auction season in June you will find livelier auctions, more people, and better merchandise.

The fun part is that anyone can play. You don't have to know anyone or be pre-qualified, just find the items you're interested in, walk into the right room and start bidding. All you need is cash--unless you spend more than 3,000 Euros. That's the largest cash transaction the auction house can do. But credit cards and bearer checks will work too. If you arrive early in the day, seats are easy to obtain, but since people move around, chairs free up throughout the day. Lots of folks just lounge against the wall and watch the proceedings. Catalogs are available online and in the lobby of the building. In the exhibit rooms, there are also estimate sheets with value of each item by lot number. I saw a shirt estimated at 30 euros and a painting for 30,000, but as at any auction, the real price may surprise everyone.

We went with a friend to watch the auction of several pieces by the artists, Claude and François-Xavier Lalanne. The room was full of people monitoring the action and reporting to on-phone bidders. We grabbed seats behind an American couple--he was wearing a navy jacket, and she was in a fabulous white suit. Seven or eight lots into our time there, our American couple started bidding on a metal duck about five feet long and four feet high. Big duck. A similar item sold a few minutes before for 218,000 euros. Ten minutes later, our guy bought the second duck for 350,000 euros. We were told we had seen a record broken for those artists that day. It was very exciting for us--not as exciting as the guy in the navy jacket, but lots cheaper. And, to top off the experience, the next day we went to an exhibit by these artists at the Musee des arts decoratifs on the Rue du Rivoli, featuring many of their famous pieces.

If you don't know your French numbers, you could do some real damage so practice up or take a French speaking friend or be careful not to bid on anything. But do go by and see what's going on at the Drouot. It's a wonderful way to spend part of a rainy day in Paris.