In sunny southern France Pézenas shopping will please foodies and wine lovers and offer a few unexpected surprises.

Food Specialties

It goes without saying that shopping in France includes mulling over pastry selections, tasting local specialties, and finding delicacies to bring home. Pézenas lays claims to the Petit Paté, an odd little bobbin-shaped meat pie, served as an appetizer with a glass of local Muscat. Made with minced lamb, lemon peel, and a host of secret ingredients, the recipe was a gift to the people of Pézenas from Lord Clive, Viceroy of India, following his successful R&R in the village in 1768. Today, the pastry is sold in all bakeries in town and, if you're traveling through town by car or have rented a house nearby, can be kept refrigerated for up to 2 weeks.

Wine

Wines of the southwest have become better known in recent years for their value without sacrificing quality. In and around Pézenas, in an area known as the Coteaux du Languedoc , over 75 vintners open their doors for wine tasting and selling.

Market day

Markets in France are much more than farmers' markets and the full day one on Saturday in Pezenas is no exception.  Besides produce, the market has a selection of cheeses, meats, locally produced honey, olives and pastries but also wine, clothing, and flowers.

Artists and artisans

Capitalizing on its past association with the 17th c. playwright Molière, Pézenas cultivates an artistic air that has brought dozens of artists and artisans to the town and surrounding area who work here year-round. Their ateliers for pottery, leather working, jewelry making, theater costumes, glass blowing, and woodwork, to name just a few, are open to the public with varying schedules. Those who promise to offer only work that is conceived and made in their own workshops in Pézenas display the sign: Je concois, je fabrique dans mon atelier . During the summer tourist season many workshops are open late into the evening on Wednesdays and Fridays.

Molière

Though the famed playwright spent only a few months in Pézenas some four hundred years ago, his stay made an impression. If you're in town to see what all the fuss is about, a visit to the gift shop in the main Tourist Office will make it abundantly clear. Molière mugs and magnets, t-shirts and aprons, feather pens, Louis XIV decks of cards not to mention charms in the shape of Pézenas' local delicacy, the Petit Paté, are all on sale.