All journal posts
La Table3 min read
A Tuesday morning at the Gordes market
What our chef buys, which stalls to find, and why you should arrive before nine.
The Gordes market has been held on Tuesday mornings for as long as anyone in the village can remember. It fills the square beneath the château and spills down the lanes on either side.
Arrive early
Our chef, Élodie, is usually there by 7:45. By nine the best tomatoes are gone and the lane by the church is shoulder to shoulder. Go early, buy a coffee at the café on the corner, and do a first slow lap before buying anything.
What to look for
- Goat's cheese from Banon, wrapped in chestnut leaves and tied with raffia.
- Early apricots from the Durance valley in June, and melons from Cavaillon in July.
- Olive oil from the mills in Oppède and Maussane. Taste before you buy; the stallholders expect it.
- Tapenade and anchoïade, which travel well if you want to take something home.
Cook it with us
On Tuesdays in summer, guests can join Élodie for the morning and then cook lunch together from what they bought. It is one of our favourite experiences, and it ends, as most things here do, with a long lunch under the plane trees.
