Les Halles Print by Miroslav Sasek

Few do food markets as well as the French. Les Halles (‘halls’) operated for centuries – Zola, the novelist, called it ‘the Belly of Paris’. Here we’ve the hustle and bustle of market day, with colourful fruit, meat, and vegetable sellers all vying for prime position as they go about their market preparations. Sasek, commenting on his city guides, once said: ‘You have to get to know these people…..Then you start to see it through their eyes and it’s no longer just about buildings and landmarks, but life, ordinary life, and that’s what makes these cities’.