Tuesday 23 April 2013

A wander through Apt


A spring morning in the South of France...just wandering through the streets of an ordinary little town feels like a sensuous adventure. In the medieval Rue des Marchands that runs through the centre of Apt, where the 800-year-old market takes place every Saturday morning, there are all kinds of intriguing doors to enter, from small brocantes (above) to patisserie emporia and perfume and wine shops.

Here's a glimpse inside Senteurs et Provence, which offers a range of fragrances you won't often be able to buy outside France:


They also stock these charming metal pomanders, which hold solid blocks of scent - there's a lovely selection of fragrances to choose from, and they make great gifts. I hang them in wardrobes, but I liked one large design filled with amber and orange blossom so much that I keep it by my bedside.

 
Just down the street are several linen shops, with vast ranges of the traditional Provencal boutis, the padded cotton squares used for bedspreads and tablecloths.
 
 
 
As it's France, food is all-important - so the displays outside the kitchen shop are equally alluring. If anything is ever going to entice me to purchase a garlic grater or a herb-grinder, these might!
 

 
The displays outside the flower shops are pictures in themselves...

 
 ...and the Patisserie Rousset always has a window display to draw you in closer...



Time for a coffee or a Perrier on on one of the squares, watching the world go by - and wondering whether it might be worth going back via the boutique to try on that crushed silk tunic top, and perhaps making a slight detour via V Comme Vin, the best wine store for miles around. And let's just pick up a copy of Paris-Match to read in a sunny corner of the garden later...

11 comments:

Bunched Undies said...

Wonderful pictures and words Deborah, Thanks for posting. I feel like I'm there...

Marcheline said...

That's exactly what I needed to read and see on this overcast, chilly day in New York... I feel warmer already. And I want that bottle of Patchouli in the second photo!

Lynne with an e said...

Oh, such exquisite torture to view these images, read your description of wandering the streets of Apt, and wish I could be there to experience it myself.

Evelyn said...

I actually love the little boutiques more than the crowded Saturday market. I had a delightful encounter in a scarf shop with a sweet little boy who told me all about Spiderman...in French, of course, which I couldn't understand. But kids and Spiderman are the same in any language.

Maureen said...

Love how beauty is such an integral part of the presentation of products. I could wander through a place like this for hours.

Michel said...

I did the Saturday market a few months ago but didn't get a chance to visit the rest of the town away from the area where the market is held. I hope to return there when we are back in Provence in a few weeks and wander through these shops.

bright star said...

Great photos,Deborah. I love those boutis,gorgeous and the visit tho 2nd hand was lovely! love Angela

Sara Louise said...

My favorite market town!

aguja said...

Your photographs are so uplifting. I savoured each one. It is raining and dull here so the bright colours are cheering.
Apologies for not completing the questionnaire that I said that I would do, but I had to have a cataract operation and lost touch with things for a while. Soon there will be another and then I shall be able to focus properly on writing.

Muriel said...

It looks like you are having a wonderful time in Apt. Things are slightly different over here, i London, but we are having some sun too!

Sacha said...

Tu vas rire ....j'habite à Ménerbes qui se trouve 16 km d'Apt ( j'y fais mes courses ) et malgré cette proximité je n'ai jamais encore visiter le Vieil Apt !!!!!!
ton billet me donne très envie d'aller le visiter :)
Bon week-end !
Sacha

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