Covered Markets in Paris: Three I Recommend

Cheeses, ultra-fresh produce, casual meals, wines, olives? All this, and more...

Fantastic cheeses and friendly, humorous cheesemongers at Fromages des Batignolles/Pic by Courtney Traub

Dear Subscribers,

Apologies for my relative silence these past few days— I’ve been roaming in Paris and poking a bit around Burgundy, and while I’m in “research”and reflection mode I find it somewhat hard to take the time to sit down and process the delightful input, then form it into words.

It’s still scarf and light-coat season in Paris, and there’s been a lot of chilly rain this week, which has driven me (and everyone else) indoors much of the time. However, this created the perfect occasion to visit a few covered markets, which can be thoroughly appreciated no matter how inclement the late-April conditions are outside. I thought it would be an opportune moment to offer a few suggestions on that theme.

I started with a whirl through a covered market I hadn’t seen before, the Marché Couvert de Batignolles. Situated in the heart of an area most tourists skirt around but never see, the market isn’t pretty from the outside. It’s housed in an industrial building circa 1960 or ‘70-something. Unassuming, to say the least.

But head inside and you’ll find several very good purveyors of fresh produce, selections of French cheeses, fish and meat meat, olives, flowers and other staples. It’s generally a lot quieter than most covered markets in busier areas, especially on weekdays. But that’s precisely part of the appeal.