Les Délices du Luberon
That kind of purist regard for Provençal artisanship is visible a few blocks away at Les Délices du Luberon (20 Place du Change; www.delices-du-luberon.fr/boutique_us/liste_rayons.cfm?code_lg=lg_us), along one of Avignon's crammed shopping streets, where jars of regional olives, olive oil, and tapenades include manager Magali Caire's favorite "tapenade noire a la Provencal" (a blend of black olives, anchovies, and garlic that pretty much squeezes the essence of the local table into one small jar).

L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue
From Avignon head 16 miles (25 kilometers) southeast on the N7 (then switching to the D907, the D900, and the D938) to L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue for another lesson in regional taste but come the day before the hectic Sunday market. Saturday is when Michel Biehn opens the doors of his Virginia creeper-covered townhouse cum shop, La Masion Biehn (7, avenue des 4 Otages), and lets you unfurl the region's best-edited collection of brightly colored Provençal textiles. "They're hand-blocked printed cotton called ‘les Indiennes' because they came from India through the port of Marseille, as early as the 16th century," says Biehn, the kind of passionate collector who has written books on the subject. "Suddenly even poor fishwives could dress in colors that used to be reserved for royalty. What a joy." Biehn stocks antique wedding quilts printed with garlands of flowers in the trademark Provençal colors—the purple of lavender, yellow of sunflowers, and gray-green of olive leaves—that made the area a muse for artists like Van Gogh, Matisse, and Cezanne. If the 18th-century originals are too pricey (and a good quality Venetian yellow quilt can easily run 2,000 euros) Biehn also continues the tradition by commissioning newly printed les Indiennes fabrics, pillows, shirts, and boutis—a quilted, three layer bedspread—splashed with the red poppies and yellow hibiscus that bloom near his window.