Halles d'Avignon

What makes it special

The face of the hall is a living wall by the botanist Patrick Blanc. The plants are not climbing the building: they are fixed to PVC sheets, kept damp by water carrying nutrients that drips down from the top of the wall, and the colours change with the seasons.

Place Pie has held a market since the sixteenth century, and the steel hall that stands there now opened in 1974. Its roof keeps the sun, the rain and the mistral off the stalls.

Inside, about forty traders work the aisles: fishmongers, butchers, bakers, cheesemongers, grocers and wine merchants, with fruit, vegetables and Provençal specialities between them, most of it fresh and local.

Visiting

The square in front is where to start, because the green wall reads best from a few steps back. Inside, walk one full lap of the aisles before you buy anything, so you know which fish counter and which cheese stall you want.

Then pick a place to stop. Cafés inside the hall serve coffee, and a seafood bar does platters of shellfish and prawns off the plancha if you want to sit down to eat.

On Saturdays at 11:00, chefs from around Avignon give a free cooking demonstration in the central aisle. Weekdays are quieter, though you will not see the full range of stalls.

Tips

For a first meal, order half a dozen oysters and a glass of white wine at one of the stalls. Ask the vendors about anything you do not recognise, or what is best that week. Most speak a little English, and a few words of French help.

On a Saturday, arrive well before 11:00: from then on, the central aisle becomes nearly impassable.