Favorite things to buy in Provence/Lyon
 

Hi,

We are going to Lyon and Provence in September/October. Although my husband usually hates shopping in the US, he enjoys ( well, maybe he tolerates) it in France, and so I'm looking forward to exploring the shops and markets. I love food items, cosmetics, etc., and especially love local art and crafts. I collect animal sculture, and love to add to my collection when we travel. Does anyone have suggestions for unique things to buy in Provence (or Lyon) and where to buy them. Thanks,

Margret

The provencale fabrics are lovely; in the Souleiado shops and Les Olivades, you may either purchase fabrics or ready to buy items. Gorgeous colors and prints.

Lavender, soaps, olive oil are other good products of the area. You will also probably see many hand-crafted santons, or miniature models of villagers, such as miller, baker, etc. It's nice to start a collection of those. They come in a range of sizes.

If you go as far east as Moustiers Ste. Marie, you will see the beautiful faience for which the area is known. A recommended trip; lunch at Restaurant des Santons, in Moustiers.

We have gotten beautifiul napkins in Roussillon in a lovely linens shop there--lots of choices!

I love buying those lavendar sachet packets sewn in the lovely Provencale fabrics. They come sealed in a plastic wrap and look like a "string" of sachets. They cost as little as 2 euros total and you can give them (individually) as a small gift/souvenir to friends when you get home. The smell lasts a long time.

Margret, you mentioned that you collect animal sculpture. Last September we rented a house in Uzès that had several striking ceramic guinea fowl (pintades is the French word, I think). We were back in May and tracked down where they are made: the Céramique de Lussan, which is a small town north of Uzès. If I remember correctly, the workshop is on D37, just west of Lussan, but you can get directions from the tourist bureau in Uzès.

The ceramic figures are charming. In addition to the guinea fowl, there were hens and penguins. Highly stylized, they'll bring a smile to your face every time you look at them.

We brought three home with us in our carry-on luggage.

Anselm

I loved the pottery in Provence and you can by a cingale (a cicada like bug) that you see everywhere. You can view the collections and where to buy online at www.avignon-et-provence.com/pdg/terre-e-provence. We purchased our items in Nice and Les Baux.

Thanks, everyone for your suggestions-I love them- that's what's so wonderful about this forum!

As an artist, I'm always looking for representative art from the local I'm visiting, and I'm particularly drawn to whimsey. Anselm, after your reply, I did a google search and came across their web site:

http://www.ceramique-de-lussan.com/page1.htm

The sculptures are as delightful as you said (they did bring a smile to my face!), and I'm already planning a trip there.

Grandmere, are the Santons made by one craftsman, or is it a local craft, with different variations? These sound delightful as well.

Any other ideas are more than appreciated,

Margret

slightly off topic but if you plan on shopping remember to bring some large zip bags- the really big ones. I've used them to really condense linens (iron at home!!!) and pack with air to protect fragile items (place item in bag, wrap with piece of laundry and "fill" bag with air.) Just a thought. Also look into shipping any item- it might be worth the cost not to worry about a piece!

Oh, how could I forget the santons! There is a wonderful santon shop in Arles by the main square across from the Mistral statute. The shopkeepers were extremely helpful and seemed to enjoy helping us "build" our creche. They shipped it all home too rather reasonably.

Santons are made by many different artisans; some of the best come from the atelier of Marcel Carbonel. You can visit the studio in Marseille; attached to the studio (where you can see the artisans working on the santons) is a very good santon museum. The collection includes Italian figures and dates back about 200 years.

Over the years we've collected about 40 figurines, including a Christmas crèche set; I can't resist them. One of the most popular is called Le Mistral, a shepherd with his cloak blowing in the wind. From about the end of November until New Year's many Provençal towns and villages have santon faires, where different artisans bring their santons. It's very interesting to compare.

Our "spare" suitcase comes back stuffed with Alziari olive oil, tapenade, lavender wands and sachets, pottery painted with lavender designs, olive-oil soap, and more. The santons travel in my carry-on bag.


I also like to bring back placemats and tablecloths in Provençal fabrics--not the expensive ones from Les Olivades and Soulieado but the ones to be found in markets and fabric shops that make them on the premises.

Lyon is known for its silk products--don't miss the silk museum, too. I've seen some beautiful small paintings on silk.

Almost forgot--in Provence you can find beautiful paper napkins that feel like cloth and lovely paper plates, too.

Carbonel's figures are sold at the store in Arles I referenced above, along with other artists, but I too preferred Carbonel's.

This may a stupid question, but are the santons designed for Christmas or could they be used as secular folk art? They sound a bit like the cermaic Christmas carolers that we see on sale in New England.

Underhill, do you bring along a collapsible suitcase to bring back purchases and, if so, what kind? I'm trying to sort out suitcases.

Thanks.

There are different types of santons, varying in size, but the ones we purchased are about two-three inches high and include traditional creche figures but also townsfolk as well. For example, we have a woman in traditional Arlatan garb, one pressing olive oil, one with a bouquet of lavender and the "mistral" figure mentioned above.

Here's a Carbonel website so you can see for yourself...
http://www.santonsmarcelcarbonel.com/indexgb.htm

I've the same question about suitcase. We'll take two full suitcases and one full carry on. So, that leaves us one carry on to fill with goodies. Should we take a bag and carry it on, a small suit case and carry it on, or a small suite case and check it. We'll be taking things like tapenade, pate, linens, etc.

With the exception of the religious figures in the Nativity, the santons are really just the townspeople (little saints), and they do not belong to any particular holiday or religion in appearance.

I loved the shops in Lyon, a wonderful very pedestrian city with great little specialty shops. I bought scarfs (wonderful silk!), soaps, and stocked up on Clarins products at half the price I have to pay in the US.

I forgot to say that santons come in two kinds: (1) painted or (2) dressed in lovely costumes made from cotton. The latter are larger and often carry the tools of their trades. My favorite is a lady with a lace cap covering her hair as she walks along with a basket of lavender. My other favorite carries
an umbrella in one hand and a basket of raspberries in the other.

A buying hint: the higher quality santons will have faces and hands of the same color.

Given the weight of those jars and cans of goodies I'd opt for using checked luggage--after you wrap everything carefully in bubblewrap and secure it with scotch tape. Even then we lost one jar of tapenade when it broke en route--the ag agent wasn't quite sure what to make of it, but the suitcase is still redolent of olives.

You can also buy little Provençal houses and such things as village wells to go with the santons or to display on their own; very charming.

There's a museum at Les Baux with a good display of santons, and just outside Paradou (between St-Rémy and Maussane-les-Alpilles) is a large shop with a display of santons some of which move, à la Pirates of the Caribbean. Some good artisans'works are available for sale.

For anyone in Washington, D.C., the National Cathedral gift shop stocks santons for the nativity season, along with some of the every-day variety.