Marché Bastille

One of the biggest markets in Paris, the Marché Bastille's food stalls sprawl up the Boulevard Richard Lenoir twice a week, with more produce than most hypermarkets – it's a particularly great source of local cheeses, free range chicken and excellent fish. The atmospheric and beautiful piles of fruit, veg, saucisses, olives and so on are interspersed with stalls offering African batiks, cheap jewellery and bags, but that doesn't detract from the overall sense of bountiful goodness. Keep an eye on the prices, as not everything is a bargain – some of this is seriously classy stuff, making the market a favourite with bourgeois foodies.

On Saturdays, the food vendors give way to arts and crafts (Le Marché de la Création Bastille, technically a different market all together), where you can pick up cheap and cheerful paintings and other hand-made bits and pieces – you might even find something rather good.