La Petite Rockette

’70s ties for €0.50, skirts for €2 and coats for €5 – La Petite Rockette makes living cheaply easy. A venue for locals who prefer to give things a new life rather than throw them away, the association that runs the store also lays on a range of activities as well as an enthusiastic welcome from its workers and volunteers. A former artist’s squat, the new car boot sale-shop-exhibition space has kept in touch with its origins – also on offer are dance workshops, yoga, sewing classes and the popular ‘Tri Tes Doigts’ creative recycling session for 3-12 years olds.

La Petite Rockette collects everything that people donate, then sorts the sellables from the recycling. You can turn up some improbable treasures in the unpretentious little store: pink tiger-print lamps, rabbit-shaped salt cellars or inflatable tortoises, and the inevitable Paris snow globes. There are used books, an old piano, and a live cat asleep in a basket of clothes. A wooden chess set, a typewriter or a school slate could all be yours if you take the time to rummage – and you should.