I went to the Saanen Brocante with my camera and a job to do. I certainly wasn't looking for anything to buy. A couple of hours later, I was heading home with two beautiful ceramic trays.

Which, I suppose, is exactly the point of a brocante.
On what must have been one of the hottest market days in recent memory, Saanen's village centre was once again taken over by more than 100 stalls. Antiques sat alongside vintage clothes, old silver, paintings, furniture, cowbells, ceramics and all manner of objects whose purpose was not always immediately obvious. Some deserved a closer look; others perhaps belonged exactly where they were.

Despite the scorching heat, it was a lovely day. People browsed, stopped, doubled back and occasionally disappeared into the shade before starting again. The

Brocante has grown considerably since its beginnings more than twenty years ago, but its appeal remains refreshingly uncomplicated: you never quite know what you are going to find.

And part of the pleasure is talking to the people behind the stalls. Ask about something that catches your eye, and there is often a story attached: where it came from, who made it, how old it is or where it has spent the past few decades. Whet her every detail can be verified hardly seems the point. A preloved object comes with a past, and knowing a little of that past somehow makes it more special.

In my case, it was ceramics. I spotted the trays while making my rounds with the camera and went back for another look. I learned that they were made by a Swiss artist in Cully in the 1950s. Beautiful, unusual and most definitely not on my shopping list, they came home with me.

But then again, going to a brocante with a shopping list rather misses the point.

JEANETTE WICHMANN