The dollar is high and the pickin’ is good. Suzanne is traveling across the pond this week for a big buying trip to France and England, where she will visit four antique fairs, two of which are new to us. Here’s an overview from Suzanne:

“Chartres and Le Mans are supposedly rivaling their better-known competitors in Avignon and Montpellier. I’m up for trying new areas with young dealers who are selling their family’s estates in regions I don’t normally go to.

“While in Chartres, I want to see one of the most beautiful cathedrals in the world: the Cathedral of Chartres. Here I hope to attend a lecture by the cathedral’s infamous British expert guide, Malcolm Miller.

“Le Mans apparently is not only known for its car race. It also hosts a lesser known antique fair that is frequented by other French dealers I buy from. Hoping this leads me straight to the source!

“After Le Mans I’ll go to Brittany and Normandy, where some of my best sources are located. I’ll be sure to send photos of my finds back home as a sneak peek.

“The next stop is Calais, where we will take the Eurostar to London. I am counting on the antique dealers to be hungry and ready to sell. Manager Jean Langway is meeting me for this part of the trip, and together we will buy everything from antique boxes and Art Deco inkwells to English servers and farm tables. We’ll also hit London area dealers with fox-hunt tenacity, photographing our exploits, of course.

“When we are finished with our British friends, we will cross the channel once again for the Paris flea market, where you never know what you’ll find. Then we will take the train down to Avignon so that we can attend the Avignon antique fair.

In Avignon, we will see many familiar faces from all over Europe who have trucked their pieces there for a one-day “deballage” for dealers. It seems like a lot of work for a short selling period, but dealers who go are trained to buy on-the-spot, pay, and move on.

“The tremendous Montpellier antique fair will be the grand finale. Not only do all the Avignon dealers pack up and move to Montpellier, but it attracts even more vendors from other French regions, Italy, Sweden, Spain, and beyond.

“By that time all my euros and pounds will probably be spent, and it will be back to Atlanta with me. Then the fun really starts: seeing all our wonderful purchases gathered together from everywhere and displayed at The Gables. I can’t wait to show off everything to our customers!”