In the dead of night on the streets of Rome there is a shop open that is full of junk (gold 1980s fanny packs, pink corsets, ancient basketball posters, styrofoam mannequin heads, American political pins, odd designer handbags, etc. etc.). It’s called “Miss France,” because Maryse Fabre, the 74-year-old French woman who runs it, was actually Miss France in 1956.

The store is only open between 10 pm and 2 am, when Maryse wants. Rumor has it that her odd hours are due to the fact that she is not legal to have a store and it’s her tactic for avoiding the police. My theory is that she had a grand love affair with a man in Malta (she speaks Maltese, an obscure language similar to Arabic). But her prince broke her heart, or died, and she staves off nighttime loneliness by opening her shop during the midnight hours.

Miss France was even featured in Nero Magazine and is sort of a local celebrity. She recounted her life story and said to me, “It’s so exciting that at this stage in your life there is a big question mark and so many great things await …” She became wistful and teary, perhaps thinking of her great love, the Maltese prince, or the fact that the rest of her life is inevitable: sneaking out to sell her precious old objects to strangers by the light of the Roman moon.

- Haley Hogan

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