{"id":78500,"date":"2015-06-24T03:17:40","date_gmt":"2015-06-23T17:17:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theproject.com.au\/myfrenchlife\/?p=78500"},"modified":"2015-06-24T11:27:09","modified_gmt":"2015-06-24T01:27:09","slug":"french-markets-aix-en-provence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theproject.com.au\/myfrenchlife\/2015\/06\/24\/french-markets-aix-en-provence\/","title":{"rendered":"Faces of the French market in Aix-en-Provence"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AIX_AE_1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/b>French markets are idolized worldwide<\/a> <\/b>– here we explore one of our favorites, found in Aix-en-Provence in the south of France\u2026<\/b><\/p>\n

Every morning at 8am, the open square at Place Richelme<\/a> transforms into a bustling marketplace perfect for les fran\u00e7ais<\/i> – and les francophiles<\/i> – who can\u2019t bear to do all the shopping one day a week. The chatter of vendors blends with the quick sounds of cameras snapping and bright pink radishes crunching, as can only happen in Provence<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But this isn\u2019t a market to attract tourists. For residents of the quaint Aix-en-Provence in the south of France, this is a grocery store.<\/p>\n

A tour of familiar French faces<\/span><\/h3>\n

The honey salesman catches the attention of everyone passing, exclaiming with a toothy smile that his honey is truly \u201ctop<\/i>\u201d. The honey is expensive at eight euros a jar, but it\u2019s straight from the apiculteur<\/i> and its eager salesman will gladly give spoons of each variety before a purchase is made.<\/p>\n

\"AIX_AE_4\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Next to lavender oils and fabric printed with t<\/i>oile de jouy<\/i><\/a>, the older woman who makes the lavender sachets speaks with students and tourists, kindly correcting their French. She stands under five-feet tall, her hair always in an effortlessly French, grey chignon. She used to be a French teacher. Her son boasts the high quality of the lavender, saying the sachets will last ten years and just need a squeeze every few months to invigorate the oils.<\/p>\n

Across the path, fruits and vegetables wait to be bought – never squeezed or inspected beforehand. The twenty-something man who works there has big, curly hair and thick glasses. He laughs as he adds a bundle of parsley to a bag and asks his clients about their weekend and what is on the menu this week – \u201cEst-ce que vous voulez un peu de plus de p\u00e9rsil ?<\/i>\u201d<\/p>\n

On the other side of the square, les aixois-e<\/i> fill market baskets with fresh strawberries, ripe from nearby Carpentras<\/a>, under the watchful eye of the caf\u00e9 waiter, who stands ready to bise<\/i> his regular customers and greet them in a familiar Southern French twang.<\/p>\n

Resting above the saucissons<\/i> – choices ranging from sanglier<\/i> to ch\u00e8vre<\/i>, coated in pistachios and herbes de Provence<\/a> – is a planche<\/i> with samples of the selection of the day. \u201cMiam!\u201d<\/i>, shoppers agree as the vendor offers a taste. His neighbor is busy selling chickens – heads attached – and a slew of farm-fresh eggs.
\n<\/a>
\nFor French and expats alike, the morning ritual of going to the market and seeing the familiar vendor faces is as inherent as un r\u00e9pas<\/i> followed by un caf\u00e9<\/i>. The meals just aren\u2019t the same without it.<\/p>\n

\"AIX_AE_3\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Proven\u00e7al necessities<\/span><\/h3>\n

The markets are where you can find the freshest, most authentic souvenirs, donc il faut que tu profites bien<\/i>.<\/p>\n

In Provence, it would be a tragedy to leave without at least one sachet of lavender, though preferably you will ditch everything you own and opt to fill your suitcase with those instead.<\/p>\n

Stock rented kitchens with the best food France has to offer, from olives and sundried tomatoes to goat cheese and saucisson<\/i> (goat cheese, by the way, is best in spring, according to une fran\u00e7aise<\/i>). But beyond perishable goods, Provence is the perfect place to buy cheese boards and honeycombs made of olive wood, soap from Marseille and hand-painted pottery. But it\u2019ll be hard to resist the peonies\u2026<\/p>\n

\n

Where is your favou<\/b>rite market in France? Do you have any go-to purchases as the markets open?\u00a0<\/b>Let us know in the comments below…<\/p>\n

\n
All images \u00a9 Anne Elder.<\/span><\/address>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Anne shares her market tips and introduces you to the locals: a perfect market guide. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9485,"featured_media":78543,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":0,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","footnotes":""},"categories":[1081,1105],"tags":[220,1436,234,1444,240,1451,252,1462,255,1502,258,1550,332,1757,384,1786,397,1796,417,422,436,172,460,196,569,210,1366,213,1372],"class_list":["post-78500","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-escapades","category-experience-experience","tag-french","tag-local-knowledge","tag-french-food","tag-local-guide","tag-french-life","tag-french-tradition","tag-french-riviera","tag-shopping","tag-french-travel","tag-meet-the-french","tag-french-cuisine","tag-travel-tips-2","tag-markets","tag-french-traditions","tag-places-to-go","tag-local","tag-provence","tag-aix-en-provence","tag-savvy-traveller","tag-south-of-france","tag-things-to-do","tag-culture","tag-vie-francaise-2","tag-expat-life","tag-advice","tag-food","tag-travel-in-france","tag-france","tag-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theproject.com.au\/myfrenchlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78500","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theproject.com.au\/myfrenchlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theproject.com.au\/myfrenchlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theproject.com.au\/myfrenchlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9485"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theproject.com.au\/myfrenchlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78500"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theproject.com.au\/myfrenchlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78500\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theproject.com.au\/myfrenchlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theproject.com.au\/myfrenchlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theproject.com.au\/myfrenchlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theproject.com.au\/myfrenchlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}