Cavaillon's Monday market is one of the great produce markets of Provence, spreading through the town centre and filling the streets around the Place Joseph Guis from early morning until early afternoon. The variety is encyclopaedic: stalls piled with tomatoes, courgettes, aubergines, and herbs; cheese vendors with aged chèvres and huge wheels of comté; olives in a dozen varieties; flowers; pottery; and the famous Cavaillon melons, sold by weight from the back of vans and judged by local buyers with the seriousness of wine tasters evaluating a Premier Cru.
The market is at its best in summer, when the melon season coincides with the full glut of Provençal produce. Come early — by 9am is ideal — and bring a bag. The cafes around the square fill up with market-goers eating croissants and discussing the quality of the produce. It is one of those experiences that makes you understand what people mean when they talk about the French relationship with food.