Whenever we are on holiday in France or England we browse the antique markets and shops. We prefer markets and antique centres with a mixture of professional dealers and people who just sell for fun or from their attics or car boots. Over the years we have bought a lot of paintings during such holidays, which we love to display in our home. Some paintings remind us of places we have just seen like the castle in France . . .

Old warehouses in Marseille . . .

 

Or the Customs House in King`s Lynn in East Anglia/England.

The children`s portraits complement our collection of antique toys.

And others look nice in the kitchen or in the conservatory.

The paintings are oils, pastels etc. and are not valuable. We do not bother having them restored and usually don't have the  original frames repaired.

We have never paid a lot for the paintings. The French castle, for example, which we bought in a small town in the south of France (Mirepoix) last year was only 90 Euros. Of course, you should not look for the paintings in very popular places with lots of tourists, but try to stop at small shops or weekly markets and you can easily find nice paintings from the genuine owners or rather their grandparents.
Unfortunately, we should stop buying now, as we have enough paintings on our walls, but once you have started it is difficult to stop as you will always find some nice paintings in unexpected places.