14 Best Shopping in Provence, France

Within walking distance of the town center and tourist office, this traditional bakery for the boat-shaped navette, an emblematic cookie of Marseille and Provence, was revived by the founder of the Provence-based cosmetics giant, L'Occitane. Delicately perfumed with orange flower water, the oblong cookie is said to represent the boat that brought saints Mary Magdalene and Martha to the coast near Marseille. Other traditional biscuits, flavored with lemon, almond, anise, or orange flower (including calissons d'Aix and macarons made from local almonds) are baked here by hand in gourmet versions updated by Paris superstar pâtissier Pierre Hermé. Though you'll also find them in gastronomic shops, all of the biscuits made here—easily transportable in tins—are sold in the Biscuiterie store at a 10% discount.

Known for its lush orchards, Apt excels at a technique for preserving fresh fruit that dates back to Roman times and was prized by everyone from the French popes to Madame Sévigné. At this local cooperative, founded in 1962, the old techniques were updated to 20th-century standards, but the colorful local fruits preserved in all their sun-ripened glory are still a sight to behold, and you can taste things before buying. Bigarreau cherries from the Luberon are an absolute favorite, but you'll also find Cavaillon watermelons and melons, Provence apricots, figs, plums, pears, and Corsican clementines, as well as kiwi, pineapple, and, of course, candied ginger.

Aix's most famous purveyor of calissons offers an assortment of the delicate almond pastries in gourmet flavors and enticing colors along with the white-frosted classic. The Rue Gaston de Saporta location is the flagship, but its wonderful museum just outside the city center ( 5380 Rte. d’Avignon) delves into the history and making of this sweet and is well worth a visit. The shop also sells fruit syrups, biscuits, cakes, nougats, and a variety of other beautifully packaged candies that are perfect for gifts.

This confiseur dates from 1866 and is in its fifth generation of family ownership on the same St-Rémy premises. It makes the famous Provençal calisson, an almond-shape marzipan confection, as well as a gorgeous array of candied fruits—from cherries and strawberries to kiwis and even whole pumpkins—using a recipe credited to Nostradamus (a native son of St-Rémy). There are also fruit syrups, jams, chocolates, and regional honey. A tour of the factory and a stop in the beautiful boutique are pleasurable ways to spend and hour or two.

Here you can purchase top-quality, AOC (controlled origin) olive oils and learn how they're made, from picking and pressing to blending and bottling. Free tours and tastings (in English) demonstrate why these regional oils—most made from green olives and some made from fermented black olives—end up on tables in some of the best restaurants in France.

For five generations, this family-run outfit has produced some of the country's finest olive oils. You can buy several varieties at the centrally located boutique—which also has a tantalizing array of tapenades, sauces, condiments, and jams—or visit the mill a mile out of town to see firsthand how the oil is made.

This famous bakery, up the street from Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde, has made orange-spice, shuttle-shape navettes in the same oven since it opened in 1781. These cookies are modeled on the little boat that, it is said, carried Lazarus and the Three Marys (Mary Magdalene, Mary Salome, and Mary Jacobe) to the nearby shore.

Near the train station, Leonard Parli offers a lovely selection of calissons.

For those with a taste for all things Provençal, this gourmet épicerie sells many of the delicacies found in the region's best local markets, all neatly packaged and suitcase ready—if they make it that far. Shop for olive oils, tapenades, herbs, preserves, bottled soups, fruit jams, honey, pastries, lavender-based sweets or cosmetics, and so much more.

The most picturesque shop specializing in calissons is the venerable bakery Béchard, founded in 1870.

The longtime local favorite boulangerie–patisserie is the best place to buy yet another of Nîmes's many specialties: the jaw-breaking croquant, a confection made with roasted almonds and caramelized sugar.

This Aix institution since 1954 is chock-full of sweets that look good enough to immortalize in a still life, let alone eat. Its version of the iconic Provençal calisson is hands down the best around.

A veritable Ali Baba's cave in the heart of the souklike Arab market, this colorful shop brims with eye-popping mounds of dried fruit and nuts, exotic condiments, grains, and every spice under the sun.

This food boutique is stocked to the ceiling with bottles, jars, and tins of tapenade, mustard, vinegar, olive oil, honey, coffee, tea, and more.