424: Talking with Sharon Santoni about the Art of Antiquing in France
The Simple Sophisticate - Intelligent Living Paired with Signature Style
Shannon Ables
4.7 • 944 Ratings
🗓️ 15 April 2026
⏱️ 55 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
"The key is to enjoy the moment, and never stop learning along the way." —Sharon Santoni encouragement to explore France's many antique and vintage markets, fairs and shops
France. The history, the ambiance, the food, ahhh, and the antiques and vintage treasures.
If you've ever dreamed of traveling to France or have traveled to France and have wanted to know how to navigate the many brocantes, antique fairs and markets, a new book has been written for you. Sharon Santoni, founder of My French Country Home - the blog, the magazine, the travel tours and the seasonal boxes filled with treasures, has spent years traveling around France treasure hunting, and mostly in the wee hours of the morning. A mother of four, now a self-described empty-nester, she and her husband had their home to furnish, and so it was to the French brocantes they went to do so. Thus began an adventure and sparked a passion for French antiques.
In our conversation talking about her new book - The Art of Antiquing in France, Sharon will share how her introduction into this wonderful world of treasures and French history began, who guided her through and welcomed her into the community of dealers that find themselves at various markets and fairs over the calendar year, and she generously shares insights of where to go, what to look for and how to connect with the dealers to learn more about what catches your eye. She will also share what the true test of a good buy is when it comes to purchasing antiques, and how to hone your eye, taste and judgment so you can feel confident with your choices.
Listen to the episode, #424, to hear our entire conversation and find the Show Notes on The Simply Luxurious Life blog - https://thesimplyluxuriouslife.com/podcast424
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the simple sophisticate, where in 2014, this podcast premiered, and now in its 12th season, |
| 0:10.0 | the show continues to focus on the same principles it was founded upon, the art of living a life of quality over quantity. |
| 0:18.0 | Topics range from creating an everyday life you love living, strengthening mindfulness |
| 0:22.9 | practices, building a capsule wardrobe, preparing seasonally delicious meals, traveling and exploring |
| 0:29.2 | France and Britain, and living life to the fullest as you courageously honor your true self, |
| 0:34.8 | because living well really is quite simple once we know the skills of |
| 0:39.3 | cultivating contentment. I'm your host, Shannon Ables, and whether you're listening while |
| 0:44.7 | you're on your commute, exercising, working in the garden or art studio, in route or returning from |
| 0:50.4 | that dream destination, or sitting down and savoring a hot cuppa or a cafe au lae. Thank you for |
| 0:57.1 | tuning in. Let's get started. Welcome to the 224th episode of the Simple Sophisticit podcast. And in today's |
| 1:05.6 | episode, we are welcoming back a friend of this podcast, someone who inspires francophiles around the world |
| 1:13.7 | to incorporate more of the French culture and everyday life into their own, wherever they call |
| 1:19.4 | home. We're chatting with Sharon Santoni. She has a new book that is just about to be released |
| 1:25.9 | here in the States and is already available |
| 1:28.3 | in the UK and continental Europe. Focused entirely on antiquing in France, she's going to walk |
| 1:35.1 | us through this book and share tips and tricks about how to make sure your next trip to that |
| 1:41.2 | brocont, to that antique shop, to that fair is an experience you will treasure as well |
| 1:47.3 | as the treasures you find. All right, let's get into our conversation. In the first half, we'll |
| 1:55.7 | talk about what the true test of a good buy is when it comes to antiques and vintage finds, as well as one |
| 2:02.5 | thing not to do that actually, interestingly enough, ties in with living a life of true |
| 2:08.7 | contentment. And as she was talking about this, I'm sitting nodding my head going, oh my gosh, |
| 2:14.2 | that's a life lesson for so many aspects of living well, whether |
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