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If you have been to France, you will know what a big part the local market (or le marché) plays in everyday life. Whether it is a weekly market or, as in some places, a daily event it is THE place to go if you want to buy fresh produce.

Of course it is not just food that is on offer at the French market. As well as fruit and veg, cheese, fish, meat and other goodies such as olive oil, wine and honey, many markets sell clothes, tools, bric a brac, and garden plants. You can find the same sort of culture in other European countries such as Greece, as all fans of Greek recipes will know.

The Brits may be proud of the revival of their farmers’ markets (even though we still usually fall back on cooking simple pasta recipes but the French have never lost the tradition. Despite the arrival of large supermarkets and even hypermarkets in France, the local market has always been an important part of the French tradition of eating well. Not for them, factory farmed chickens and green beans from Kenya. If it is not in season and grown locally the typical French housewife is unlikely to buy it. Some markets have found fame throughout France: the olive markets of Provence, for instance, or the fish market of Marseille or the truffle markets held in various towns in the Perigueux.

For holiday makers renting a property in France, the local market turns self catering into a fun experience. Rather than trundling up and down the aisles of the supermarket with your trolley, would you not rather visit the market and find aromatic olives to nibble with a pre dinner drink, juicy prawns and homemade garlic mayonnaise for a starter, fresh fish or meat for the barbecue, ripe tomatoes, aubergines and peppers to roast and a tart from the patisserie stall? As an accompaniment to the meal, look no further than the stalls selling local wines and ciders.