Market Shopping in the Loire Valley

The term ‘market’ means slightly different things in different countries, but here in France, the term ‘marché’ (‘market’) used on its own means an open air general street market held weekly in a market place. Almost all of them are morning only affairs. Their main focus is fresh local produce, but there will be produce from further afield too, and other household items. Most locals will shop at them regularly and they are held everywhere from the largest cities to the smallest villages. My own village, population 1004, has this type of market twice a week, on Thursdays and Saturdays. A slightly different array of stallholders set up on the two different market days, and it is a small market of fewer than ten stalls. Nevertheless, I buy all my fresh vegetables and poultry at my village market. I can also buy fish, dry goods, honey, locally grown fruit in season and goats cheese at my village market.

Loches market.

I am also lucky enough to live near Loches (population 7000), which has one of the best markets in the Loire Valley, with about 200 stalls twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays. If I want a bigger range of products I will go to Loches, where I can get a full range of French cheeses, meats (including horse and goat), different speciality pastries and breads, exotic fruits brought in by greengrocers, and seasonal produce like asparagus and strawberries at their peak. At this bigger market I can also shop for market baskets, handwoven rugs and throws, soaps and artisanal skin care products, and good quality good value clothing.

Vegetables at Loches market. These are grown just the other side of the river to where they are sold, so they travel a couple of kilometres.

These markets go ahead come rain or shine (the stallholders tell me that snow puts fewer customers off than rain) and no matter if the market day falls on a holiday (with the exception of Christmas and New Years Day). Traditonally the customer does not touch the produce or serve themselves, but allows the stallholder to choose each item. Producers are always eager to tell customers all about what they have for sale and give you advice on how to prepare it. They don’t want their super fresh fruit and vegetables handled multiple times by strangers when on the farm they’ve taken so much care. Customers are often asked when they plan to use a product and how. Once the producer knows this they will take care to choose just the right fruit or vegetables for you. In these Covid19 ridden days, these open air markets are seen as a safer way to shop, and the supermarket is reserved for purchasing household cleaners and soft drinks. 

My aged neighbour Louis, who sells the excess produce from his extensive veggie patch at our village market. He is completely anti-pesticides for anything that is destined to be food, and worked all his life as an agricultural labourer.

My chef friend Stéphane choosing strawberries at Amboise market.

Me buying goat meat at Loches market. Considering how many goats there are in the Loire Valley it seems odd that there is no tradition of eating goats meat here, and this is one of the few butchers who supplies it.

My friend Sylvain, who runs a small specialist grocery home delivery and market service. All his products are locally sourced and produced.

Veggies being delivered to a restaurant from Loches market.

Old fruit boxes lovingly cared for and kept in use by the current generation of orchardists in my village.

Goose eggs for sale in my village market.

Loches market. This photo was taken just before mask wearing became mandatory at the market.

Organic veg from the market garden on the edge of my village, at the market in the village.

Organic veg from the market garden on the edge of my village, at the market in the village.

The melons and onions stall at my village market. The reason he only sells melons and onions is because that is all he grows, alternating the crops to maintain soil and crop health.

This oyster producer comes up from the Atlantic coast once a week to the Saturday market in my village.

Cherry tomatoes grown in greenhouses heated by the waste water from the nuclear power station near Chinon for sale at my village market. They are expensive but delicious.

My friend Fabrice, who has a market garden across the road from the famous gardens of Villandry, selling radishes at Loches market. This was a Wednesday, and when I remarked upon the size of the pile he informed me that on Saturdays he sold twice that many.

Salmon at my village market. It is tagged as being Label Rouge certification, which means it has been farmed under a very strict set of guidelines.

Saucissons (dry cured sausages) at Loches market. These are not a local product because there is not a strong tradition in the Loire Valley of salt cured meat.

Tony, my local organic orchardist, at my village market. The apples in the basket on the right are an old unknown variety.

 

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