A week of markets in Provence

For the best produce – and easier parking – arrive early. The stalls are usually set up by 8.30am; by midday things are winding down, and by 1pm it’s all over – with the litter-strewn streets being cleared and hosed down. These are some of my favourites:

Monday – Cadenet, Cavaillon, Fontvieille, Forcalquier.

Tuesday – Aix-en-Provence, Vaison-la-Romaine, Lorgues, Nîmes.
Aix-en-Provence is an elegant town with 40 fountains and, seemingly, as many cake shops. The largest markets in Aix take place on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays around Place des Prêcheurs and Place de la Madelaine. You’ll find the flower market opposite the town hall and, on the first Sunday of the month, an antique and second-hand book fair is held here. After the market, head to Les Deux Garçons café on the famous Cours Mirabeau for a cooling pichet of rosé.

Vaison market is open from 8am to 2pm. It’s very popular with locals and tourists alike and takes over the whole town. As well as the market, Vaison also has an exceptionally good range of food shops selling regional breads, meat and cheeses.

Wednesday – St Rémy-en-Provence, Draguignan, Sault, Valréas.
St Rémy is a stylish, fashionable town, the centre of which is surrounded by boulevards lined with plane trees, cafés and restaurants. It holds one of the most popular markets in the area and it’s also the place to find upmarket interior and kitchen shops.

Thursday – Orange, Fayence, Maussane-les-Alpilles, Nyons.

Friday – Bonnieux, Carpentras, Lourmarin, Crau.
The colourful markets along the Cours Saleya in Nice sell flowers and food every day (except Mondays) and a fish market is held in Place Saint-Francois. On Mondays the market is given over to antiques and bric-a-brac. Arts and craft stalls are set up on Wednesday afternoons, and paintings on Sunday afternoons. On summer evenings a craft market stays open until midnight.

Saturday – Apt, Pernes-les-Fontaines, Sainte Cécile-les-Vignes, Avignon, Sisteron.
Marseilles has a daily fish market around the boats on the Quai des Belges. Look for rascasse (sea scorpion), sea bass, moray eels, langoustes (large prawns), perche (bass), rouget (red mullet), daurade (sea bream), saint-pierre (John Dory), grondin (gurnard) – along with a host of other unusual fish.

This is the place to enjoy a dish of bouillabaisse – a soup flavoured with garlic and saffron and containing between five and 12 different varieties of fish, topped with slices of toasted baguette, rouille and a sprinkling of gruyere. For the real thing, look for a restaurant displaying an authenticity charter. It isn’t cheap – expect to pay about £30 a head – but you’re never going to be able to recreate the authentic dish at home.

Sunday – L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgues
Visiting L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgues market on a Sunday morning is a ‘must do’. Here, in a fabulous setting beside the river and giant moss-covered waterwheels, you can combine food shopping with antique hunting. It has the largest concentration of antique dealers in France, apart from Paris. Around 350 are here permanently, but on a Sunday morning they’re joined by dozens of bric-a-brac stalls spilling out onto streets and riverbanks. Parking is a nightmare!