This little piggy goes to market at least once a week—and fortunately this little piggy comes home, too (baskets a-bulging). Open-air markets have a very important social role in Paris and most districts have their own markets. Round the Bastille we have two: Aligre and Richard Lenoir. Which one you choose tells more about you than your religion, your occupation, your political leanings, and your haircut combined.
Take Aligre—a cacophony of odours and sights and lots of overripe fruit. It’s stall-to-stall ambience, where the trendy rub shoulders with extended working class families trailing their children and overloaded trolleys with vicious wheels. As vendors tout the virtues of their produce—the baying becomes more frenzied as the hour advances—beware the trade-off between price and firmness.
You will be relieved to hear you don’t actually have to shop there to enjoy. You can soak up the spirit of the place from a number of trendy and cheerful bistros. Nod conspiratorially to your neighbours and agree on what a disgrace the conservative government is; refer to an article in Le Canard Enchaîné, the satirical newspaper.
If it’s good food you’re after, head for Richard Lenoir on a Thursday or Sunday. Make sure you are well dressed—the dishevelled look only works if you are famous and in dark glasses. You can arrive as late as midi, for vendors here have recently adapted to the bobo late morning schedule. Greet your neighbours and ask about their intended menus. Regulars are addressed formally, often by their surname. Even the buskers are well behaved. It’s the perfect place to procure a leg of lamb for a Sunday roast—or why not a free-range chicken spit roasted to perfection? Wines from several regions can be tasted, cut flowers and organic vegetables keep all week, and safe exotic fruits come with price tags to match.
The chic bonus of buying fresh is that you can weave it into your conversation (“got it from my regular lady on the market this morning”) when your guests compliment you on a dish. And you don’t have to worry about disposing of the Picard frozen food package before they arrive.