Market day in Paris

My market days are Tuesday and Friday. I usually go to the open air market (marche) at the Gare d'Austerlitz, just an easy 10-minute walk from our building. This market is fairly typical of open air markets found in and around the 5th arrondissement. Like the market at Place Monge on rue Monge, which is also close to our apartment, the market at Austerlitz has vendors selling fresh produce, meats, fish , cheeses, as well as clothes and occasionally household items. One stop shopping!

The rationale for taking the time and making the effort to go to one of these markets rather than, say, the neighborhood fruit vendor or convenience store across the street is of course cost -- but also quality. While nearly all the fresh produce and meat sold in the city comes from the wholesale Rungis market just outside of Paris, quality does vary and there seems to be a more heightened sense of awareness by the open air vendors of the importance of providing their customers with good quality at a very reasonable cost. And they do. It's not uncommon to see people standing in line at several of the fresh produce vendors at the Place Monge market. And a quick check of the prices will tell you why: €1.50/kg for clementines and just across the way another vendor is selling them for €3!

Just to give you an idea of the prices at the Austerlitz market, and with some variation these are fairly typical (1 kg equals about 2.2 lbs):

Today I bought bananas are €1.39/kg, apples €2.89/kg, yellow onions €0.69/kg, sweet onions (these are incredible) €4.50/kg, clementines €3.69/kg (the cheapest go for €1.89/kg), tomatoes €2.79/kg and broccoli €1.69/kg. Not too bad at all for the city.

In addition, fish can be found at these markets, but can often be quite expensive: tuna going for over €30-34/kg in some markets and codfish for €24/kg. But there is quite a variety to choose. (One day at the pastry shop where Susan is interning, one of the other chefs went out to the nearby market at Place Monge and bought several rouge barbet, little fish about six inches long, and pan-fried them up just as they were, heads and all, and that's what they had for lunch!)

You can also find fish cut to order at the Asian markets near Porte d'Ivry as well, where the prices are quite reduced.

I usually buy my meat and poultry at the Asian markets near Porte d'Ivry (Tang Freres and Paris Store): beef can run anywhere from €6-14/kg depending upon the cut (and the cuts rarely resemble those found in North American), pork tenderloin goes for about €10-11/kg, and boneless chicken breasts for €2.99-3.99/kg.

Markets are well advertised in Paris and most guidebooks also list the major ones as well. After a week or two in your neighborhood you'll figure it out. We did.