a Curious Canadian in Provence : photography, art & renovation!
The Marché Flottant, or floating market, is an annual market in Isle sur la Sorgue. It’s every first Sunday of August. Locals in traditional dress load up their “Nègo Chin” (traditional Provençal boats) with olives, lavender, truffle products and all sorts of provençal specialties. You can stand on the side of the river or docks and buy directly from the boats. The small floating market is visually stunning; it transports you to another time. See pictures below.
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Curious about in the ins and outs of working in a market in Provence?
Do you want to taste the best Provencal ingredients?
Would you like to eat breakfast at the market with the workers?
Book a foodie market tour with me!
Tours are about 3.5 hours in the towns of St Remy de Provence and Eygalières. There’s lots of tasting to be done so come hungry! Tours are private and cost 250€ for 2 people or 310€ with a picnic. Day tours and combined market tour and photoshoot experiences are possible. Send me an email to ask about availabilities. curiousprovence@gmail.com
Just about every village in Provence has a weekly market. Some villages have markets that occur twice a week or even daily! Markets are absolutely my favourite part of living in Provence.
We can easily spend a day wandering through the stalls and people watching as we sit at a wonky table with a couple glasses of rosé. The weekly market is a ritual that is truly part of living in Provence. On Sundays, you’ll see whole families shopping together as kids amazingly express great interest in the new vegetables of the season. Here are my 9 favourite Provençal markets.
Seasonal mushrooms at Le Thor market
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The Sunday antique market at Carpentras is my favourite weekly antique market. As you may already know, the town of Isle sur la Sorgue is the king of antiques in the south of France. If you are looking for a particular style, period, or piece of furniture etc and have lots of extra cash- then Isle sur la Sorgue is definitely the place. The Carpentras Brocante is more low key. It is a Puces-Brocante (flea market) which means that it’s wonderfully somewhere between a vide-grenier (garage sale) and a brocante (full-blown antique market). The prices are much lower than Isle sur la Sorgue even though there are still many quality items….
If you’re a fan of shabby chic décor then you’ve probably heard of the term brocante either in magazines or Pinterest photos. What you don’t hear very often in Anglophone circles is the term vide grenier. Antique markets in Provence are not all created equal…
Vintage ice cream cart at the International Isle sur la Sorgue Brocante
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