Street markets are a way of life in Paris. The city boasts dozens of food, clothing, furniture and flower markets – both temporary and permanent – spread across the 20 arrondissements and surrounding suburbs. Finding them is as simple as logging on to the city’s official website, www.paris.fr, seeking out the arrondissement you live in and clicking to find a comprehensive guide to market types, hours and placements within your quarter. Even for those not interested in purchasing, wandering the markets is a great way to get a feel for the city’s character, shopping with Paris’ crotchety old grand dames, hip fashionistas, happy families and gob-smacked tourists. Those seeking the full experience can make the most of the array of market tours on offer. The websites www.frenchlinks.com, www.davidlebovitz.com, www.pariserve.com and www.cordonbleu.eu offer links to just a handful of the hundreds of market tours offered by private enterprises within the city. It’s worth keeping in mind, too, that markets are not always where you will find the best deals, particularly when it comes to food. Organic and farmed produce brought in from rural areas can often cost more than supermarket stock. Still, the experience and quality is often worth the extra cost. Where else could you grab tasting of charcutterie from Alsace, cider from Normandy or foie gras from the south-west while picking up a bunch of fresh cut flowers and perhaps an artisan pair of earrings? Only at a Parisian market.