Sommières, a charming medieval town off of D40, 14 miles west of Nîmes, has a lively, yet more local than touristy, Saturday market. The main action is in the center of town, Place des Drs. Dax, where you’ll find the usual South of France food stalls – produce, meats and charcuterie, artisan breads, olives and tapenade etc. Mixed in are various venders of dry goods – shoes, hats, shopping baskets, articles of clothing and jewelry. The market radiates out from the center of town with the cheaper merchants on the outer roads.
Here you have to be more careful about quality but bargains can be found. We got nice Roma tomatoes for €.99 a kilo and a super fresh rabbit for less than €8 a kilo – in the center it was selling for €13 a kilo.
We also picked up a couple of specialty bakery items at La Maison aux Mille Pains at 27 Rue Antonin Paris, near the center. A chocolate meringue, very sweet but layered with bitter-sweet cocoa, and a fougasse, a local specialty bread something like a focaccia, in a variety of flavors – anchovy, Roquefort, olive, onion, garlic, etc. The anchovy fougasse had great anchovy flavor, not too fishy or salty. The best parking is on the west side of town, a short walk over the bridge to the market.
For links to all the posts in this series see the Calvisson page.