Off we went, three of us, on a beautiful and gorgeously clear day, to “les brocantes” in the town of Isle sur la Sorgue. You can read more about this wonderful town; for those of you have not been, I highly recommend it! But if you do go on market day, be SURE to get there early(ish) i.e. before 10 AM. It gets so crowded later (until the 1 PM closing) which makes for a less than enjoyable time.
On one side of the river are the antique dealers in their booths. The other side of the river, and all back through the town, are the various vendors : in addition to fresh everything … fruit, vegetables, flowers, cheese, fish, spices, sausages and meats galore there is clothing, wine, jewelry; shoes, scarves and pashminas; live birds and fish. You name it, it’s there.

I adore the markets in France. What more can I say? I am completely and utterly transfixed from the moment I “land” among the colorful booths and am immersed, once again, in the French language. Some one asked me today what is the one thing, above all others, that I like so much about going to France. The questioner is a new acquaintance (she is my trainer at the gym…) who doesn’t know me very well.
The first thing that came to mind was “the opportunity to hear and speak French”. But it’s more than that. It is the opportunity to be immersed in another culture; the chance to see the world from a different perspective; the moments to see and internalize the colors, the details, the visual cues from a culture off-center from the one in which I live.

I feel an adrenaline rush as we get ready to land at Charles de Gaulle airport. There is that brief moment of “oh- no- I- have- to -speak- French-now- and- it’s-going -to -be- such- an -effort” which is quickly replaced by “YES, this is it!” It happens every time I go over and I never, ever tire of it.

So, on to the market.

The colors; the details; the smells: it was a wonderful day indeed.

the goods:

the river as it winds through town:

the food:

After our exhilarating (and exhausting) morning it was time to find a quiet, cool restaurant for lunch.
This was it: L’art de Vivre.



Then it was off to the Campredon Art Museum.


If you are looking for more eye candy and a slightly different view of Provence, go on over to
    Vignette Designs: Delores is giving us a guided tour of the area!

Oh, there’s more… lots more to tell. Now that I’m home, and busier than ever, it will be a few more days until I can write another “story”! But it’s coming: I promise. The places I went, the people I met, the cooking class I took: I’ll show you all of them!