Auction

Toulouse home sells at half price as pool in view of thousands of people

The house, which is below a new cable car route, brings a whole new meaning to the word ‘overlooked’

Scooter François Hollande used to visit his lover to be auctioned

The ‘scooter of the scandal’ has a starting price of €10,000

How do I avoid scams when selling expensive bike online in France?

We look at ways goods are sold online

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Dealer who bought €4m African mask for €150 wins case in France

The retired couple who sold the rare artefact handled the sale ‘negligently and frivolously’, the court said. The state of Gabon also saw its case rejected

Napoleon’s bicorne hat sells for €1.9m at French auction

The sale broke the previous world record for one of his iconic hats, ahead of the release of Ridley Scott’s new film about the emperor's life this week

Why it can be good to buy a French property at an auction

There are three main types of auctions

Normandy gendarmerie next to the sea up for sale as a home

The starting price at auction is €119,000

Mystery of the box filled with jewels found near Chamonix

The treasure found by a hiker is to set be sold at auction

How to get your hands on some vintage French ski cabins from the 1970s

They could make a nice addition to your French garden

Tree-mendous! Auction of unique wooden Citroën 2CV breaks world record

The final price of €210,000 was the most expensive ever for one of France’s most iconic vehicles

In pictures: Wooden version of iconic Citroën 2CV set to be auctioned

The unique car could fetch up to €200,000 and break the world record for the highest sale price of a Citroën 2CV

Rolexes, Lamborghini: seized drug dealers’ goods sold off in France

Around €700,000 of luxury goods went under the hammer in Paris

Rare painting found behind a door sold for €600k at auction in France

The painting by the son of Flemish master Pieter Bruegel the Elder was discovered during a routine inventory check

Rare painting of Flemish master stumbled upon abandoned in French home

The Brueghel the Younger painting, accidentally found during a house inventory, is now set to be auctioned in Paris

Rester bouche bée: Our French expression of the week

After one lucky woman obtained millions for a vase she thought was worth €2,000 we look at expressions for extreme surprise

'The end of Oasis' smashed guitar sells for six figures in France

The Gibson ES-355 was broken during a fight between brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher minutes before a concert. The fight led to Oasis' break up

Rare 1924 French car to be sold at auction, estimated price €60-80,000

The Avions Voisin C4S has a unique chassis and is said to be in superb condition

French tourist site’s traditional wooden caravans up for auction

The caravans, which sleep four and have kitchens and bathrooms, could be good for gîtes or guesthouses or people looking for a quirky ‘extra room’ in their garden. Prices start at €4,000

Gold coins found with junk in rundown French house sell for €772,000

The money, found in a house bought for just €130,000, is set to be reinvested in a new hotel-restaurant as part of plans to ‘re-dynamise’ the town centre

Big project alert: turreted French chateau up for auction at €400,000

The property has extensive wood panelling and stonework details – but requires extensive renovation due to its long history as an elderly care home

Fancy a fire engine? French firefighters launch online auction

The unusual lots include a working fire engine on sale for just over €1,100 and a Land Rover Defender with a starting price of less than €10,000

Black truffle from France sells for US$10,000 at online auction

The truffle weighs more than 1kg and was sold as an NFT (non-fungible token), meaning the buyer will receive both the actual truffle and an official certificate showing proof of ownership

Houses up for auction with €10,000 starting bid in north-east France

One of the properties in Lorraine has five bedrooms, land and outbuildings

Alfa Giulia TZ, Belmondo’s Ferrari: unique car auction in France

Cars from a ‘hidden’ collection, discovered in Italy in 2019 by a couple of French car lovers, will be auctioned near Paris on December 12

Brittany château to sell at €326,000 in auction unless higher bid made

The owner says the property, which has work to be done, has ‘huge potential’. Bidders have until December 6 to make a move

Château de Versailles buys lost portrait of teenage Marie-Antoinette

The portrait, which had disappeared 100 years ago, sold for €175,500 over five times the estimated price at auction

‘Best yet’ Mona Lisa replica sold at Paris auction for €273,000

A copy of Da Vinci’s famous painting from circa 1600 fetched a third more than its estimated price

300 luxury items up for auction as French customs sell seized goods

Confiscated Porsche, Lamborghini and Ferrari cars, jewellery, designer handbags and fine wines are included in the Paris sale

US collector pays €6.6m for Big John dinosaur skeleton at Paris sale

The buyer who has not been named beat ten other bidders for 66-million-year-old fossilised remains of the world’s largest known triceratops

World’s largest known triceratops dinosaur up for auction in Paris

The 66 million-year-old skeleton, named ‘Big John,’ is expected to sell for up to €1.5m at tomorrow’s sale

Rare coins found at Breton manor exceed auction hopes and sell for €1m

The money for the 235 gold coins will be shared between the property owner and the artisans who found the coins during renovation work, with a special souvenir for each to keep

1,400m² chateau in southwest France sells for €205,000 at auction

Bids started at €90,000 for the abandoned Château de Nescus, a former children’s centre which comes with 2.2 hectares of land and a caretaker’s cottage

Hat belonging to Napoleon and containing his DNA up for auction

A bicorne hat picked up in Germany and recently discovered to contain hairs linking it to Napoleon Bonaparte is shortly to be auctioned in London

Rare gold coins found in Breton manor house to be auctioned

The proceeds of the 17th century haul, estimated to be worth €300,000, will be shared between the workers and the owner of the property

Huge French château with water damage to be auctioned at €278,000

The château, built in 1900, boasts three floors and a basement and is located in the regional national park of Ballons des Vosges

Mona Lisa ‘replica’ sells for record €2.9m at auction in Paris

The painting is known as ‘Hekking’ after its previous owner, who lived in France and bought the piece for just €5 in Nice in the 1950s – and who believed his was the ‘real’ painting

Artwork by Petit Nicolas illustrator Sempé set for first-ever auction

The artist’s work has appeared on hundreds of covers of The New Yorker magazine, as well as Paris Match and Le Figaro

Two-bed apartment in French Med resort up for auction at €3,000

Property is empty and reported to be in reasonable condition

Hautes-Alpes: Battle for €2m French fortress auctioned for €661k

Fort Queyras is listed as a historic monument and was valued at €2m but its sale has been beset with problems

French ‘lost’ old master painting was on family’s living room wall

The work by French Rococo artist Fragonard had been hanging unnoticed for decades

€440,000 bid on €1m French property after no one buys it

Historic former public building had been on the market for more than five years before going to auction

Price for prize cow at UK auction shocks French farmers

Limousin heifer sets new record price as farmers team up to buy pedigree animal

Rare Bristol was kept in French garage for 50 years

A rare 1960 Bristol AC car that was kept in a garage at the bottom of a garden has been sold at auction for €369,520

Tintin drawing sells for record €3 million at French auction

The cover illustration for Tintin’s Blue Lotus , drawn by Hergé, has set a new record price for cartoon strips

Barrel of French wine smashes charity sale record

Auction's charity lot raises previous record by €300,000

Original piece of Eiffel Tower sold at auction for €275,000

A spiral staircase that was part of the tower for nearly 100 years was auctioned off on Tuesday for nearly ten times the guide price

French cultural digest: November 2020

A round up of five arts and culture stories creating a buzz in France this autumn

Saint-Exupéry and ‘mystery American’ letters sold in Paris

Original letters between famous French writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and a "mystery" American woman - with whom he is suspected to have had an affair - have gone on sale in Paris.

Private collector spends £118,580 on bottle of cognac

Bottle of 1762 Gauthier cognac went under the hammer on Friday

Vintage alpine egg-shaped cable cars up for auction

All the way from 1973 to 2020.

Fine French wine auctioned to help Covid-19 care staff

High-end fine French wines are being sold at auction to raise money in support of healthcare staff working on the frontline against the Covid-19 pandemic.

Rubik's Cube Mona Lisa by French artist on auction

A version of the Mona Lisa made with Rubik’s Cubes by French street artist Invader is being auctioned in Paris, and is expected to sell for at least €120,000-€150,000.

€24m masterpiece must stay in France

A 13th CENTURY masterpiece – Florentine artist Cimabue’s Mocking of Christ – must stay in France after US buyers paid €24.1million for it.

Candles add drama to French property auctions

There are various ways to buy property at auction – from an ancient candle system to the internet

French family keepsake up for auction at €24m

Small artwork recognised as lost 13th-century masterpiece

‘Most costly’ artwork due at Paris Louvre is missing

The “world’s most expensive painting”, which is due to be on show at the Paris Louvre museum this October, has mysteriously “disappeared” since its sale at auction in 2017.

Rebel Ferré and his chimp’s chateau for sale at €4.7m

The former Lot home of composer, poet and author Léo Ferré and his chimpanzee is on the market for €4,770,000.

Books of French President Mitterand sell for €1.5m

The books and some writings belonging to former French President François Mitterrand have been sold at auction for €1.5 million, including some lots that went for tens of thousands of euros each.

Jewels of French queen Marie Antoinette on display

Precious jewellery worth over €3m belonging to the last queen of France, Marie-Antoinette, is to be on public display in London ahead of being sold at auction in Geneva on November 14.

Memorabilia of iconic French brand LU sold at auction

A collector is selling part of his vast collection of memorabilia of the iconic French biscuit brand Lefèvre-Utile (LU), including archive documents, and tins; for a starting sum of at least €300,000.

Auction sells over 700 French château stone ornaments

Hundreds of “château style” historical stone ornaments - including a Louis XIII chimney surround estimated to be worth up to €480,000 - are to be sold at auction near Paris on September 24.

Sculpture by French sculptor Rodin sold for over €100k

A nineteenth-century sculpture by French sculptor Auguste Rodin, dedicated to painter Claude Monet, has been sold at auction in Cannes for more than €100,000.

Centuries-old bottle of wine sells for €103,700

A bottle of wine from the year 1774 has been auctioned for over €100,000 in the Jura, along with two other bottles that fetched almost as much.

Row over centuries-old Mont-Saint-Michel manuscript

A row has erupted over a 12th century Mont-Saint-Michel manuscript that was due to be auctioned in May, as the government says it should not be sold, and instead belongs to the State.

Town puts 25-bedroom summer camp château up for sale

Vienne property owned by Seine-Saint-Denis town goes up up for auction in June, with the opening price set at €415,740

Paris Ritz auction items to go on public display

Over 10,000 precious items set to be auctioned from the Paris Ritz hotel will go on public display this April 12-16, with prices ranging from €80 for a candlestick to €10,000 for two marble gaslights from the old hotel entrance corridor.