St. Sixte Chapel just a
mile from Eygalieres.
Hiking trails through the olive groves and vineyards
Market day is as much
a social event as an
opportunity to shop.
Provence Traditions, South of France
The Provence Market is a
lasting tradition and for the
modern visitor the market day
can be fun. Each village in
Provence holds a market day
when vendors come from distant
areas with fish meat wines and
produce.
If you are renting in a small
village this is a good time to buy
fresh fish and other ingredients
not available in the village stores.
Wine and olive oil,cheese and
especially fish come in mobile
vans to the festive markets.
Wines and Olive oils
come to the markets
from the vineyards and
mills around Mouries,
St Remy, and Les
Baux, villages
connected by country
roads through the
groves and vineyards.
Wednesday market in Mouries
The Provence Culinary Vacation in June can be fun because cherries, apricots, and melons
ripen in June making it a great time for a culinary adventure.
Provence markets will supply the Traditional Provence ingredients for many healthy recipes that
can be big part of a culinary vacation.
In June the markets will provide the fresh ingredients for many traditional Provence vegetable recipes
which will include tomato, zucchini, and eggplant.
June brings freshness to simple Provence dessert recipes of cherries, apricots, peaches and the
markets will provide artisanal Provence goat cheese and the jugs of Cotes du Rhone.
Bring your own jugs to the vineyard and mill for wine and olive oil
Traditions of
Provence,
History, Festival, and
Culinary Adventure
in Provence
Provence Tradition, Market Day in the South of France
Fontville has its market days
on Monday and Friday
Saint Remy-de-Provence
holds its market on
Wednesday in the center of the
old city
Saint Martin de Crau has a Friday Market
Maussane Les Alpilles has a
Thursday Market
Saint Remy's
Wednesday Market
Marseille holds 25 different
markets with an everyday
market and fish market at the
Old Port,
Ten markets in
Aix-en-Provence
Aureille : Thursday Market
Salon de Provence: six
markets, every day but
Thursday
Provence Markets Rated the
Best by a local
Monday: Cavallion, Fontville
Tuesday: Istres
Wednesday: Saint Remy, Mouries
Thursday: Bouc Bel Air, Aurielle,
Maussane Les Apilles
Friday: Tarascon, Istres, Cassis
Saturday: Arles, Apt
Sunday: Jouques, Plan de Orgon

The romance of Provence wells from the love of the people for tradition. You
see it in the fields, the farmhouses, and the food, a clinging to the old style and
the old ways, not out of backwardness, but out of a reverence for a life lived in
harmony with the land, a land that with a little encouragement, gives back
abundant life.
The St. Sixte festival in Eygalieres, for example, demonstrates this love of
tradition. Eygalieres has revered St. Sixte since 1155 AD when they built a
chapel to honor his memory. The people of Eygalieres dedicated the chapel in
1222 on a site about a mile east of the village center. Each year on the
Tuesday after Easter the people of Eygalieres carry a likeness of St. Sixte out
of the village and they walk along the Orgon road to the St, Sixte chapel.
There they celebrate a catholic mass in the language of old Provence:
Provencal.
St. Laurent Chapel in
Eygalieres.
The people of Eygalieres have celebrated in this way since 1222 but this
procession goes back much further than that.
The chapel occupies a low promontory that once held a neolithic temple to
the stone-age god of water.
A spring once issued from the rocks where the chapel now stands and the
first agriculturalists made annual springtime pilgrimages to ask the gods for
favorable rains.
Today this procession includes the Guardians of the Camargue, cowboys riding
their white horses. They guard the black bulls of the Camargue in modern times
but in earlier Christian Provence, they guarded the Maries de la Mere of tradition,
two women related to Christ who came to Provence across the Mediterranean
shortly after the crucifixion.
The Guardians protect the statue of St Sixte and they march with people honoring
another tradition, the ladies and gentlemen of Arles dressed in 15 th century
costume who celebrate the traditions of Arles.
These festival always end with another tradition dear the people of
Provence, food, the traditional food of Provence.
The tradition in Arles will be rice paella because to the south, the low wet land
of the Camargue is ideal for the growing of rice. In Eygalieres and the Alpilles
it will be barbecued lamb because the hills nurture huge flock of sheep.
Spring festivals will see cherries from Gordes and melons and apricots from
Cavillon, fall will bring new wine and olive tapinades. The markets will lead the
way.
Saint Remy's Wednesday Market
Provence Camargue Horse
In Provence Camargue bull
Festivals the Guardians of the
Camargue herd bulls through
the streets
The non lethal
bull fighting
events include
the Camargue
cowboys who
herd the bulls
through the
streets into the
arena
Provence Traditional
Non-lethal bull fighting
No Passing
for
commercial
vehicles
No
Passing
zone ends
Rotary with yield to traffic in rotary
|
Speed limits will be clearly marked and the Rotary will be a welcome site with its directions to various
towns. Gassing up is similar to US with credit card and automatic shut-off at modern pumps. Car rental
are available in all large cities and at many TGV Train Stations..
Information for those renting a vehicle in Provence
Shop for your rental car online well ahead of your trip and
choose diesel (more economical) or gas, luggage
space,(important) standard or automatic,(important) two
door, four door and other options. See renting a vehicle in
Provence
Wednesday and Saturday
Markets in Arles,