Market Day

Early every Monday morning, barricades are assembled, déviations (“detours”) are put in place, and a large part of le Cours, the main street in Bédoin, is closed down. A bevy of small trucks then trek in to town to set up le marché. As in every French city and town that I’ve ever known, the outdoor market continues throughout the year, but the amount of activity varies dramatically based on the weather. Rainy, cold days reduce the number of buyers and thus keep sellers away. But last Monday, even though le mistral was gusting at a pretty good clip, the day dawned bright and sunny and the town was buzzing with people.

The southern-most area of town, down by the cultural center, seems to be primarily devoted to non-food items. There are stalls and racks of clothing, shoes, socks, and slippers, brightly-colored Provençal material and linens, “industrial” pottery and wooden objects (like cutting boards), soaps, and small gift items. One marchand (“vendor “) even has a display of mattresses for sale! Because of the low overhead I assume, the prices are quite reasonable by French standards. By far, however, le marché is where you go to stock up on most of your groceries for the week.

Even though les Bédoinais have Shopi and Vival to rely on, nothing is as fresh or as varied as the produce they can get at the market. Each of three or four different stands we’ve seen has a stack of small plastic baskets for buyers to use while choosing their fruits and vegetables. One thing that surprised us last week was seeing a customer remove one rib of celery from a stalk, which the seller weighed and priced for him without batting an eyelash! (We saw the same thing repeated at Shopi, by the way, later on in the week.) There are several places which offer fish and meats: everything from salami made from sanglier (“wild boar”) to beef, lamb, pork, chicken, and horsemeat (I personally draw the line at chevaline!). The air is filled with the delightful aroma of grilling chickens; their price depends on their type and whether or not they are élevés en liberté (“free range”); you can usually ask for onions and mushrooms to take home with the chicken. The town butcher gets in on the action by having his own grilling chickens outside his shop. Other vendors add to the delicious odors by selling prepared foods like paella and Asian eggrolls (des nems).

The range of items for sale varies greatly—from big bowls of olives at one stall to plastic-lined burlap sacks filled with spices at the next. One lady from Gordes has a whole display of her homemade jams from various fruits such as strawberries, raspberries, and figs. Certain people try to make a sale by handing out samples of their cheese, pesto, or aïoli. You can also get bread, wine, and even a bouquet of flowers.





As one might easily imagine, vendors are as different as the goods they sell. A few marchands practically ignore you and continue knitting, reading, or eating breakfast; others are friendly and want to kid around. Some people remember us from before and engage us in conversion. Our fish man, for example, is always ready to discuss the weather, or the prevalence and quality of fish in la Bretagne versus the relative scarcity (according to him at least) of those found in the Mediterranean, or the force of the mistral in Bédoin (very light) compared to the same wind in Orange (very strong). Anyway, market day is always a lot of fun.