Market Day In Saint-Aignan

Saturday is market day in St.-Aignan. It's the closest market to us; our own village is too small to have a market of its own. On a nice day it's fun to ride over and park the car in one of the lots around the outside of town and walk in to do some shopping. The market is set up in the town's main and upper squares, both otherwise used as parking lots.

Le marché de St.-Aignan.

We can also go to the bank, the pharmacy, the post office, and any other place in town we need to go while we're there. Sometimes we run into friends and neighbors while in the market square. There are several vendors that we frequent. Among them are the charcutière (deli lady), the fromagères (cheese ladies), and the mushroom lady.

The fish vendors. The green and blue bins contain oysters.

The market has a great poissonnier (fish monger), too. There are several produce stands, a couple of volaillers (poultry vendors), a couple more charcutiers, and a butcher or two. Also, there are a few local folks who sell their seasonal farm produce, including goat cheeses, honey, asparagus, apples, snails, breads and baked goods, and other things.

The upper market: clothes, shoes, baskets, curtains, and sewing machines.

All in all, it's a decent market, even though it's one of the smaller ones in our region. Noyers (across the river from St.-Aignan) has an even smaller market on Sundays, and Montrichard (a bit further down river) has a bigger one on Mondays and Fridays. Thursday is market day in Selles-sur-Cher, about 10 miles up river. That one is a pretty big market and we try to go there a few times a year just for fun. The are also nice markets in Valençay, Loches, Contres, and Blois, but they're farther afield and we go to them less frequently.

Shopping under the shade trees in St.-Aignan.

By far the largest market in our area (outside of Tours) is in the city of Amboise up on the Loire River. That Sunday market stretches along the river bank for about half a mile and includes, along with the standard food and produce vendors, a large flower market, wine producers, several vendors of take-away food (paëlla, moules, Asian dishes, and other goodies), a lot of clothing stands, sellers of household items (knives, pots and pans, tables, chairs, mattresses), and souvenir vendors.

Amboise is a big tourist attraction (famous for it's château and daVinci home/museum) and the market draws in the crowds. If you're in the area, the Amboise Sunday market is a great morning activity followed by lunch. Now I'm suddenly hungry.