Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Market day in Isle sur la Sorgue

Everyone has told me that market day in Isle sur la Sorgue is not to be missed. This small town is unusual in that the town centre is completely encircled by the Sorgue river turning into a charming island full of narrow streets and alleyways that beckon exploration and discovery.

The Sorgue river encircles the town

It is located just 20km from my house so last Sunday I hopped on the Beast and enjoyed a relaxing ride there through the Luberon valley.

Hundreds of vendors set up their stalls throughout the town and everything you could need seems to be available for sale, including wonderful fresh fruit and vegetables, meat, fish, spices and also clothing, linens, pottery, art, jewelry, luggage, antiques................ well you get the drift. As if that wasn't enough to capture one's attention, all the shops in town are also open providing a shopping orgy for the thousands of visitors.


Market is packed with thousands of visitors

I stopped at the marvelously named and situated Café de France for a restorative café crème and to do some serious people watching. Big fun!!

Café de France - all you could want in a French café

An absolute textbook café, replete with accordion music and a handlebar moustache clad waiter. It would not be hard to imagine Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman meeting there for a drink.
After an hour of people watching and dreaming, I forced myself to walk around town and see what was  on offer.
I have been to many farmer's markets in the states but none of them have anywhere near the quality of produce that is on hand here.  It is next to impossible to find bruised fruit or anything but the freshest meat and fish.


The freshest fish, most caught that morning and brought in from Marseille

Perfect fruit

Here you do not choose your fruit but allow the vendor to pick for you, it is considered a bit rude to do otherwise.  When I bought a local melon, the vendor asked me when I wanted to eat it and based on my answer, picked out an appropriate example. There are a number of vendors that also cook onsite, roasting chickens, making paella, pizzas and salads and sandwiches of all kinds.  It would be a simple thing to buy a grand lunch and sit in the park by the river and eat, with a bottle of vin rosé of course!!

I wasn't interested in the non food offerings but there is a wide range of stuff available with widely varying levels of quality.  Also there was lots of live music in various parts of the town which made for a pleasant diversion from the hustle and bustle of the market. You could easily spend the entire morning looking around the stalls and shops, that and all the enticing aromas meant just one thing, lunch!!

When I first got to town I popped into La Prèvoté, a michelin 1* restaurant and made a reservation for lunch.  It is vital in Provence to make reservations for lunch or dinner at all of the better restaurants, I can't tell you how many people were turned away while I happily ate my lunch.  Quelle domage!!.



An amazing entrée

The food and service at La Prèvoté was superb, each course was artfully presented, perfectly seasoned and made my mouth water with each bite.  There was a decent wine list but you will pay dearly for any wine from outside the local area.



Delicious main course

By the time I finished lunch the market was over and most of the stalls had already miraculously disappeared and the crowds thinned out.  I used this time to walk around the river taking in the neat old water wheels that still function and watching people cools their heels in the swiftly flowing water.


One of the town's working water wheels

After wandering around for a while, I hopped back on The Beast and pedaled back to Mènerbes, happy and fully sated.

You can see more photos of my day in Isle sur la Sorgue here

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

1 comment:

  1. Love your pictures of the baskets of olives ... I ate so many of those 15 years ago ... that I'm happy they have some left :)

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