Market Day in Uzès, Gard, France

There is nothing quite like market days throughout France, but they can be particularly fascinating in the smaller rural villages in the south. On the final Saturday of April, I visited Uzès in the Gard district, somewhat east of Avignon and getting into the Languedoc region. The grand market stretches for blocks in several directions, even filling covered vaulted archways as they go under or cut through medieval buildings. The foods reminded everybody that we were not far from the Mediterranean world, and the emphasis on greens and yellows recall the tastes of Provence. The market is packed with locals for miles around, and I detected conversations by a few tourists. There is plenty of free parking about a 15 minute walk from the village center. Like all such markets, it opens early and its vendors begin to pack up by 1:00. By then, restaurants and cafés appeared to be filled to capacity, so we went elsewhere for lunch.