France

The gallery-lined medieval streets of the St-Germain-des-Prés area of Paris will be thronged with a babel of different accents and cultures during the second week of September.

Dealer events have traditionally dominated the early September calendar in Paris but auction houses are catching up.

The September return to work (and school) after a long summer break is significant enough in France to have its own title: La rentrée.

Fair aims to capitalise on the event’s past heritage and more recent major innovations.

Other exhibitions launching this September include 'Forces et Mouvements' at Galerie François Léage, a fifth-generation dealership on the well-known rue du faubourg Saint-Honoré.

There is a decidedly French flavour to the loan exhibition at this year’s Biennale. Prominently displayed under the central dome of the Grand Palais will be a selection of works from the extensive Napoleonic collection of Pierre-Jean Chalençon.

As well as the themed shows, some of which are detailed on these two pages, this year’s Parcours has a loan exhibition that goes to the roots of the French tribal art collecting.

On the day that the Bastille was stormed Louis XVI famously recorded “rien” (nothing) in his game book.

France remains one of the most popular holiday destinations for UK residents. If you want to combine an antiques/vintage buying trip with a holiday in either Provence or the Haute-Savoie this month, then a visit to two of the regions’ most attractive towns might feature high on the itinerary.

Vincennes, Sèvres and Meissen are among the stars of a Paris and London auction spotlight.

There has long been a tradition of summer sales in Monaco, with an emphasis on the luxury goods area of the market: jewellery, watches, handbags and cars. Here are a few stand-out lots coming up.

A rare medieval gold head of a saint generated significant interest at a sale in Paris conducted by Pierre Bergé & Associés at the Hôtel Drouot.

The Paris high season is a time when classic sales of traditional fare are as much to the fore as buoyant sectors such as Asian, contemporary and modern and tribal art.

The mammoth disposal of the Aristophil collections of historic manuscripts began last week with a premium-inclusive €17.6m series of seven June auctions offered over four days at Drouot (June 15 and 18-20).

More than 50 works by the French modern sculptor César (1921-98) are on display in the artist’s home city of Marseille.