Hi - I will be on a small tour based in Gordes for the first week in June. We have 3 nights where we are on our own for dinner. I've already checked with you guys for meals in Goult.

Now I'm interested in picking up some dinner items to take back to the room. We both eat just about anything. And don't forget the pastries!

I'm hoping you have some suggestions of great places to pick up "take away" items from Isle-sur-la-Sorgue (we'll be there on Sunday), St. Remy, Arles, La Coste, Menerbes & Bonnieux.

Also any local wine suggestions would be great.

Thanks in advance.
Cobbie

Most French supermarkets and hypermarkets have excellent selections--just go and collect a nice variety.

Should see a lot of cherries in early June. Most markets have roast chickens & quail - you just need to figure out how to keep them warm till dinner time. Cheese, olives, olive spread, pate, Paella, Pizza, bread. Cavaillon & other types of melons should be plentiful. Half a melon & fill the cavity up with sweet Muscat de Beaumes de Venise wine.

There is a very nice deli/restaurant/wine cellar/charcuterie in Coustellet that has lots of carry-outs. I would buy wine there (in their cellar) instead of at the outdoor markets or hyper/supermarches.

Many groceries have chicken roasting facilities, and you can pick up a chicken just before dinner time & it should stay warm. Groceries also have a lot of carry-out - like Underhill said. If you drive towards Apt, there is a hugh hypermarche on your right before you get to Apt. Not a lot of charm to these hypermarches, but you might find them interesting. There is another hypermarche just outside of l'Isle sur la Sorgue on the road to Carpentras - it's on the left side of the road. It's open on Sunday mornings - most hypermarches are not.

Stu Dudley

Stayed in Goult last summer for a week. There are two butchers and they sell cooked chickens---the epicerie there is also wonderful (was in the movie Swimming Pool). The market in St Remy and Isle-sur-la-Sorque were great. We'd get fruit, vegetables, bread, olives (so great there), wine and have delicious meals. We were at Isle on Sunday and it was great fun. The whole area is beautiful---make sure to go to Rousillon, my favorite (except for Goult which we loved staying in). Have a great time!

Thanks!

We loved the fresh fruit, bread and cheese. They'll even let you taste in the markets. yum. We were there in May so we had the most delicious strawberries imaginable. Also picked up some cherries one time. Wow. And you can simply pick up a bottle of the local wine (again, they'll often let you taste) for 3-4 euros.

The tapenades at these markets are wonderful--all different kinds! That and a loaf of pain de campagne make a delicious snack.

Just be sure to see all the different types of asparagus at an outdoor market. The variety, and especially the white asparagus, just amazed us. Won't help you with your dinner in the room though!

At the entrance to Bonnieux is Chateau la Canorgue vineyard. Their production of Cotes du Luberon is entirely free of preservatives and the grapes grown without use of pesticides.

I do not know if they do degustation on the spot -- but the product is available locally.

Frankly: I would not worry too much about where to shop as you will see dozens of market stalls and shops in Isle sur la Sorgue and elswhere.

You are visiting one of the wealthiest and most cossetted parts of France. Good shops are everywhere.

The hypermarches mentioned above will have produce and products that outshine Dean and Deluca.

So your list of planned purchases will be tossed in the trash, when you spy the produce and the shop-window displays all around you.

Impulse buying is all, in Provence.

Thanks to all - I'm hungry already.

I agree with Underhill. The supermarkets are fascinating. I forget the name of the chain in Provence-one just outside of Vence. I would say everything is just as good as a market except the bread. Our very cosmopolitan landlady in Vence recommended this instead of a market.

I think the large supermarket below Vence might be a René Le Clerc, a good place to shop. While I love the Provençal markets, I also enjoy wandering through the (sometimes immense) hypermarkets and local supermarkets just to see what's being sold--and often buying thing to take home at very good prices. There are Intermarchés and Carrefours and Trois Mousqetaires, just for some brand names to start you off. One of the good things about those markets is their selection of locally-produced items as well as standard brands. Just walking along the freezer cases and seeing what's available for your dinner in France is amazing--and painful! Not to mention the cheeses and the produce...in June you should be able to get local melon. Yum!

We visited the Le Clerc outside Nice on the way to Digne. They had 56 check-outs, and all were open when we were there.

Stu Dudley