Market Day

One of the things I enjoy most about living here is the wide  selection of open air markets. The South  of France with it's abundant sunshine and warm weather provides all the elements  needed to grow great fruit and vegetables. It has  been a real luxury to be able to casually stroll through the many markets we have visited, not only to buy produce, but also to enjoy the great ambience. It certainly beats shopping at any  supermarket back home and I will really miss it.

Just having spent 5 days in the Provence countryside, we had an opportunity to visit some great markets.  Each town in the area has it's market day, which is a real event  and they are all different. The markets we visited in the towns of Apt and Carpentras seemed to take over the entire centre of the town on market day.

On Saturday morning, market day in Apt, the town is bustling so much so that we have no choice but to park about 2km from the centre and walk to the market.  Many locals are heading to the market with straw baskets in hand.  I can't help but stop at the linen stands.  I love the bright provencale blue and yellow tablecloths and the wide selection of bedspreads. I buy a few things but wish I could take a lot more home with me. We stop at a stand to sample some lavender honey and in Provence all things lavender abound. As we take our time browsing, we pass a square with lively street entertainers singing and dancing in the morning sunshine.

There is no shortage of snacks for the hungry shopper, the pizza, oriental food and rotisserie chicken trucks make an appearance. Several cheese producers offer a variety of cheeses and we can’t help but stop to sample and buy a few different types of chevre. We stop at stand selling local salami, sausages and ham and each get a small panino eating as we continue along.  I pass a stand with fresh Italian pasta and notice a group of American women amazed by the selection, but also sense their confusion. I help explain to them what the different types are and they are very grateful and happy as they purchase some for their evening dinner.

Simona and Madeleine like to wander through the racks of clothing, but aren't convinced enough to buy anything.  We stroll through the produce stands, but decide to hold off on buying any until we get to the farmer's market in the town of Valleron, a 5 min drive from where we are staying.  We stop for coffee at Cafe Louvre in the square overlooking the market stands, when we decide we've had enough.  What a great way to spend a Saturday morning. 

The daily farmers market in Valleron seems to be the most authentic country farmer's market we have seen. Each day between 6 -7:30 pm, local farmers sell their days' harvest. We stock up on cherries, plump strawberries and sweet smelling peaches, apricots and cantaloupes.  We are happy to be able to eat such fresh fruit in early June and quickly become loaded down.  We make several trips to the car before we are finally done. We pick up a large bunch of white asparagus, apparently the only type grown in this area, wonderful looking aubergines, green beans and zucchini complete with their flowers. It may be a challenge to take all this produce back to Nice, but it all looks so tempting, we can't resist.

Although I love wandering through the Cours Salaya market in Nice, it is touristy, especially at this time of the year, expensive and doesn't have the same great selection.  I would gladly trade in my supermarket back home however, to be able to shop in Cours Salaya especially in our cold winter months.
Nancy