A thirty-minute drive north on Route des Tamarins, and you’ll come across the weekly gathering for the entire west coast. The Saint-Paul street market features nearly 300 vendors spread out over more than a kilometer along the waterfront, between the landing stage and the maritime cemetery, facing the bay and its black-sand beach. Historically, this is where farmers from the Hauts region would come down to sell their harvests—and that connection is still palpable: lychees, mangoes, Victoria pineapples, leafy greens, fresh turmeric, Bourbon vanilla, herbal teas, and medicinal plants, alongside vacoa baskets, bertels, and basalt pestles. The other half of the selection can be enjoyed on the spot: samosas, bouchons, sarcives, chili candies, sugarcane juice pressed right before your eyes, and snacks for a quick curry lunch.
Extend your morning by a few hundred meters to the seaside cemetery at the very end: this is where the poet Leconte de Lisle is buried, and, beneath a grave covered with offerings, the pirate Olivier Levasseur, known as “La Buse,” who was hanged in Saint-Paul in 1730—and whose treasure has never been found!
Good to know: The market is held all day on Fridays and until noon on Saturdays. Friday morning is the best time to visit—that’s when the market is in full swing and the produce is at its freshest; Saturdays are shorter and more touristy. Arrive before 9 a.m.: Parking is scarce, so it’s best to park near downtown and walk the rest of the way.
