There’s something timeless and deeply satisfying about a good market. A wonderfully soothing alternative to the slightly unnatural, bright-lit world of supermarket shopping; what better way to buy your food than direct from the producer, having sniffed, prodded and squeezed to your heart’s delight?

I love markets, actually I love supermarkets as well but I think I’m a bit special. Growing up close to the bustle of Portobello Road market in London, I acquired a taste for them from an early age. From the enormous Indian trading market of Otovalo in Ecuador to Sunday food markets in Chiang Mai, Thailand, with some rather interesting local dishes, I’d like to think I’ve been to a few in my time as well.

Having said that, I don’t think that I’ve ever lived anywhere that has as many markets as Paris. They spring up all over the city’s boulevards daily, like delicious mushrooms. At the last count there were 69 open-air and 13 covered markets. The best thing is that with most of them happening twice a week, usually from early in the morning till 1 or 2 pm, there’s almost always one within striking distance.

To give you an idea of what can be found in a good Parisian market (or possibly just because I’m lazy and it’s the nearest one), I’ve decided to concentrate on my beloved local, Marché Villette.

While not the biggest market, I think it's quite representative of what you would typically find in a Paris marché. Actually, come to think of it, its pretty similar to what you'd find in most food markets in general, just better.

The largest single number of stalls, around six or seven, are fruit and veg, many of them run by North Africans, who provide a constant barrage of impossible to refuse deals and call everyone cousin. With the excitement of melons for 2 euros a pair or closing deals of punnets of raspberries for a euro, I very often find myself with more fruit and veg than I know what to do with, or can fit in my kitchen.

Depending on the time of year there are some delicious seasonal bargains to be had and the quality is always great. At the moment we're coming to the end of Chanterelle season. These wild golden mushrooms are a real delicacy and were very cheap a month or two ago when there was a glut.

Other favourites of mine include the most mouthwatering, plump and downright delicious cherries, which could be had for 2 euros a kilo in June and July, and an incredibly diverse mix of green and purple Artichokes, which were available for most of the summer but are sadly now beginning to dry up.

With around four or five stalls, the second biggest group in terms of numbers are the butchers, which is no real surprise as Parisians are massive carnivores. The biggest one specializes in pork, as well as offering some truly gut busting prepared porcine dishes, including strange, unidentified, creamy stews and piggy pastries. Another does a very nice looking line in pâtés and fresh sausages, which I really should sample some time.

The rest are smaller specialist affairs which source direct from a few farms. A couple concentrate on poultry and have particularly fine, scrawny but delicious looking free range farm chickens, along with quails, rabbits (which are very popular) and decent selections of saucisson and other cold meats. The last one specializes in free range veal and beef from the Auvergne.

Talking about poultry, one of the real highlights of Parisian markets are the mobile rotisseirie stalls. As the birds don't sit around for long they can be bought deliciously crispy and moist, a completely different beast from their desiccated butcher-bought cousins that have usually been turning in the rotisserie for hours. At around 10 euros for a decent sized free range chicken (which is actually cheaper than they cost uncooked from the supermarket), they make an awesome post market lunch for two or three people, with salad, a little moutarde and a fresh baguette.

Of course, no French market would be complete without lots of glorious runny, stinky, pungent cheese. With constant queues at all of them, Villette boasts three very popular and keenly priced cheese mongers. Due to the mind boggling choice I have to admit that I haven't explored them all in detail, though the smallest does a very nice range of fresh goats cheeses of varying ages, of which I usually grab a fresh one. The largest boasts a particularly good selection from Normandy as well as excellent home made cider.

Alongside these market stalwarts there's also a good mix of other stalls including some interesting traiteurs selling various sauces, pickles and spreads, a great organic bread stall, a decent Italian deli and a couple of florists. The strangest is definitely a hardware stall with a guy who uses a sieve with a long handle to collect and dispense money from behind a huge wall of batteries, kettles and sponges.

Undoubtedly my favourite stall of all, however, specializes in seafood. Located right near the entrance it's a true cornucopia of shellfish with five different types of clams, from tiny Italian vongole to huge fist-sized speciments, mussels, winkles, sea snails and six different choices of oysters. It also has a mean selection of crustaceans, including live prawns, crabs and, if your feeling particularly flush, lobsters. Everything is spankingly fresh and I could gaze at the selection in awe for hours. Recently I've started buying small clams, at around 12 euros for two servings, which make a mean pasta with white wine sauce. I'm also keenly looking forward to sampling some of the crab.

Anyway, I think that's enough banging on about the finer details of my local market. As I'm sure you can tell by now, I'm huge a fan of the range, quality and price of food available and that's just at my local. Anyone looking to grab some bargains and get a sense (and smell) of seasonal French food should definitely hit the markets when they're here.

With many selling very good hot food (there seem to be a lot of Lebanese and African stalls for some reason) and the ingredients for a delicious picnic readily available, Parisian markets are also a great place to grab a delicious impromptu cheap meal to go.

For a list of Paris other markets see here. My advice is to explore as many as you can.