Paris Street Markets

For food markets we like several...our favorites are the Saxe Breteuil market, The market on Rue Mouffetard, and the President Wilson market.It is fun to go and pick put a baguette ,some cheese, olives , fruit or wonderful cider in the fall and have a picnic.The food markets often have scarves, and neat little household items.
As far as flea markets we always go to the Porte des Vanves flea market which is Saturday and Sunday mornings.You really can find almost anything old and French there. I collect hand tinted old French postcards and my husband old viewers and other photographica.You can pay as little A euro or much more for old antiques and oil paintings.It is a lot of fun but go early because it can get very crowded.Metro is Vanves.As you come up from the metro there is a nice little cafe where you can take a break for a cold drink or a snack. my husband likes to stay for hours so I go sit outside at the cafe, have a snack and look at all my wonderful purchases.

Merci Jane: Sounds like just my glass of cider! When you say go early...what time is the best? I'm a Flea Market vender myself at the Fremont Sunday Market in Seattle and we are there by 7 am.

Here is a big map of Paris markets, with days of operation etc. It's in French but a non-speaker probably can muddle through. http://marches.equipements.paris.fr/
Many feel that the atreet market just north of Bastille, also known as the Richard-Lenoir, has a superior selection of foods. It's open Thursday and Sunday mornings. In the next arrondisment, the 12th, the indoor-outdoor market at Place d'Aligre is open daily except Monday. Its offerings are decent but not so tantalizing. There's a flea market on weekends selling junque.

The Aligre market is the one for relatively cheaper produce and a more working-class atmosphere.

Bastille on Saturday was so lovely. My girls and I spent hours there shopping for purses, handmade bracelets and freshly made crepes.

I ran "images" on Google of the markets and things certainly look tantilizing. I wish I could go right now. Do most run all year round with different seasonal offerings?

The food markets are open year round and they do have seasonal offerings. At the Saxe Breteuil market in the fall we get the best apples and fresh cider .Often the markets will have rotisserie chicken and potatoes, also as well as other hot dishes.

My favorite market in Paris was the Bastille market on Sunday, from homemade cheeses and sausages to cheap souvenir trinkets and everything in between. I visited several of the smaller neighborhood markets too but I liked the variety here so if you only have time for one, this could be the one. Also happens on Thursday but the Sunday one was better.

I thought you might want to know of a wonderful book I have on the markets of Paris, Kathleen. It is a coffee table book called Paris in a Basket. it has recipes and the history of all the markets and at the end of the book it has a complete listing of all the markets and the times and the metro stops for all.The markets are by arrondissement in the book.....there are no flea markets in the book unfortunately, but it is a great book to have. Jane

I looked on Amazon and that book looks really nice Jane, I may have to pick that one up for the sheer beauty of it. Another book that's a little more up to date and has lots of good information about what's at a particular market is this one: "Markets of Paris, 2nd Edition: Food, Antiques, Crafts, Books, and More" by Dixon Long and Marjorie R. Williams. It's very current (2012) and it's a paperback so could be carried with you or it's also available for Kindle.

Thanks for book leads...I'll start reading now...maybe magical thinking will work!

Bastille on Sunday is our favorite. All manner of vendors and I personally buy livarot cheese and, brace yourselves, horse sausage, la viande de cheval. You can order it by pawing the ground like Mr. Ed or just holding up 2-3 fingers. It is really tasty, pungent, and better than pork sausage in the US. Trust me on this, you will never look at the Kentucky Derby the same way.....:-)