Market Days in Provence

The book "Markets of Provence" by Dixon Long is an excellent resource. Not only does it give you all of the towns (well, most of them, anyway) that have markets on a given day, but it lists recipes that you can make from the strengths of any given market. If you have a kitchen in Provence, this book is a lot of fun. Also, if you're just sitting in your living room in Connecticut, this book is a lot of fun...

Each town has a market day and I'm sure they are all good. We went to the one in St. Remy on a Wednesday. It was great; so much beautiful produce, cheeses, honeys, etc. Bought a small goat cheese and bread and had a simple but unforgettable lunch. Enjoy!

If I remember correctly St. Remy has markets on both Wed. & Sat. I think the Wed. one is bigger...Sat. mostly food. We always buy cheese, bread, wine, roasted chicken, strawberries and creme fraiche and have a picnic on the steps right by the market... Yum! (I think it might be the church steps) Other surrounding towns have markets as well, but a lot of the vendors are the same as they move around. The one that had more antiques was L' Isle sur la Sourge. Don't remember the day. It's one of my favorite things to do! Edit: L"Isle sur la Sourge is on Sunday. Most markets are in the morning and end about 1 pm... get there early for the best experience.

Yes, the Wed. market in St. Remy is much bigger than Sat. I believe Arles is Saturday, and it was great. And Isle sur la Sorgue on Sunday is also fantastic.

Ile sur Sorgue was incredible, even in the pouring rain. The RS book on Provence has a section on it.

Another vote for Isle sur La Sorgue market, it was the largest one I went to and it was wonderful, lots of variety. Not quite as large but what I feel is the best one of all the ones I went to was Vaison La Romaine (Tuesday). It had by far the best food! And it was where I bought a market basket that I carried with me for the next month in France and brought home as my favorite souvenir. Here is a website that has them all listed by areas of Provence and their days. www.provencelive.com/practical/daily/market/market.html

My favorite is the Friday market in Lourmarin. A nice size market without being too large and love the town. I also like the markets in Vaison la Romaine and Carpentras.

No market days were disappointing. We loved the Wednesday market in St Remy (despite the Mistral Winds blowing). Bought soaps, cheese, and a favorite purchase was sea sponges still wet from the Mediterranean-5 euros for two! Paella was available as well as other cooked items-looked great but we were there in early morning. We did not get to Isle Sur La Sorgue on market day but visited another day and the antique shops there are fantastic.

Cassis on Friday morning, great!

Found this handy list. I cannot verify it's accuracy. http://www.beyond.fr/a/calmktsday.html