Colourful, fragrant, noisy and above all full of life, markets are vibrant places where conviviality and cheerfulness vie with the fresh produce on offer for your attention. Add a zest of sunshine and you know for sure that you’re in Cannes, where the market stalls are heavy with fine courgette flowers and basil.
Featuring the Marché Forville
The excited buzz can be heard from the street. Drawn irresistibly, you slip inside a large hall that has a distinctly 1930s vibe. Your feet tread the tiled floor, wandering from stall to stall as you are pulled hither and yon, not knowing where to look next. Admire the gleaming olives and sample the almost green oil made from them... a key ingredient in the making of socca. What’s socca? This traditional treat is a thin unleavened pancake or flatbread made from chickpea flour. Sample it along with a beignet de fleur de courgette; a kind of courgette flower doughnut. Then it’s time to sit down with a coffee before returning for the famous pissaladière or some freshly caught sardines...
There’s also...
...The Marché Gambetta, near the railway station, which offers fruit, flowers and much more in an equally lively setting.
Lovers of eclectic market experiences are thrilled by the Marché des Allées de la Liberté. Taking place every Saturday and Sunday in front of the Old Port, it’s a bustling world of antiques, curios, artisan goods, painters and flowers! Under the plane trees, white awnings are erected to shade the trestle tables. Stalls groaning under the weight of vintage lamps, Marseille soaps, old comic books and ceramic cicadas rub shoulders with the bouquets of mimosas, tulips and almond trees for sale. You can stroll from booksellers to jewellery makers, admiring some lovely old crystal here, a silk scarf there... Before heading to the Old Port for a well-deserved tot of pastis!
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More information:
- Marché Forville
- Marché Gambetta
- Marché des Allées de la Liberté
Bastide de l'Oliveraie, a 4-star at only 10 minutes on foot from the centre of Cannes