I love exploring French markets. I always discover something new among the fresh produce and the best markets in France offer traditional baked goods, distinctive charcuterie and local cheeses too that give an insight into the regional cuisine.
There’s also the voyeuristic pleasure of watching locals go about their daily business and the chance to find unique pieces of servingware or condiments to evoke memories of that special place, sometimes years later. Between real trips I’m always grateful for the bits and pieces I’ve carried back from some of my favourite French markets. Here are five of the best markets in France for produce and servingware.
Marché aux Puces Saint-Ouen Paris
The world’s largest secondhand wares market is held on the outskirts of Paris every weekend. While it’s not a food market, this flea market (‘puces’ means ‘fleas’ in French) is a wonderful place to find beautiful cooking accoutrement, from silver snail tongs and antique linen to shiny copper pots and vibrant majolica servingware.
Les Halles de Narbonne Languedoc
The covered market in the ancient Roman port town of Narbonne features seafood of all sorts. There are local oysters and rare violets (sea squirts), grotesque monkfish, rouget, langoustine, sea snails and eels, alongside beautiful seasonal vegetables, cheese, charcuterie and casual eateries with spectacular seafood platters.
Marché des Producteurs St-Rémy-de-Provence
The vibrant weekly market flowing around the main square of St-Rémy in Provence is one of the most memorable I’ve ever seen. I love its huge array of fresh produce, flowers, cheese, charcuterie, colourful local pottery and linen, traditional nougat, tapenades, lavender and huge paella-style pans of snails in tomato sauce.
Marché des Lices Rennes, Brittany
France’s second largest food market has been held on the Place des Lices in the Bretagne capital, Rennes, every Saturday morning for over 400 years. Locals buy seasonal fruit and veg, seafood, meat, cheese, charcuterie, huge wheels of bread and other baked goods from outdoor stalls and vendors in two covered halls.
Les Halles Grand Hôtel-Dieu Lyon – CLOSED
In an elegantly restored former 17th century hospital, in the heart of the city of gastronomy, this was a small exclusive covered market with a handful of artisanal stallholders selling confectionary, chocolate, bread, meat, cheese, seafood, fresh produce and wine – plus the Les Halles bistro. Sadly it closed in January 2023 and plans to reopen are uncertain.
Updated 04 Jan 2025
Marché is the French word for market. If it’s a covered market (inside a building) it’s called les halles (literally ‘the halls’).
France’s largest flea market is a sprawling warren of streets and warehouses on the northern outskirts of Paris. It’s full of all sorts of secondhand wares including antiques. The Marché aux Puces de Saint-Ouen is divided into a number of smaller markets focusing on furniture, art, books, clothes, kitchenware and so much more you could easily spend an entire day exploring it.
