La Cigale French Markets

Back in the day when Parnell was my stomping ground, I made it down to the French Markets almost every weekend, but these days I'm living on the other side of town, and ashamedly haven't been in a few months. Luckily, I found an excuse to go when I discovered that Georgia had never been. I took it upon myself to show her the ropes, and show her what she's been missing out on.

The French Markets are hosted by La Cigale on Saturday and Sunday, and are hidden away down the bottom of Parnell (just follow the nike-wearing, dog-walking, coffee-holding crowd, and you'll find your way there). The place is absolutely heaving with food stalls, live music, the smell of sizzling hot chorizo and the noise of grinding coffee beans. They even have their own creperie!

 After negotiating a slightly dodgy car park, and tripping over a few dogs, we made a beeline for The Organic Mechanic, an awesome smoothie stall my friend Graedon and a few other guys run. The Organic Mechanic are all about healthy living (and free hugs!), and their vegan, dairy free, gluten free, super health charged smoothies are just what you need to kick-start your weekend.

We tasted all of the different smoothies, but in the end we both went with the blueberry 'King Kong' which was amazing, and so incredibly filling!

Smoothies in hand, we wandered about the markets gazing at all the goodies each stall had on offer. There is an amazing array of food; from fresh ice-cream, to cured meats, to pastries, french cheese, scallops, whitebait, fresh pasta, macaroons, and even treats for your canine friends- and that's just to name a few! The variety of stalls at the French Markets is really fantastic, and there are quite a few which you don't find anywhere else in Auckland.

Not only are the stalls great though, the fresh produce at the markets is good value and good quality, and La Cigale itself is a fantastic cafe with a gorgeous selection of homeware on offer inside.

After grabbing some food to nibble on, and some treats to take home, we were almost ready to leave. We took one more lap around the place, and with our bodies fueled up on the best of market food scooted off to enjoy the rest of the beautiful weekend.