[Royan market] It turns out that my predilection for markets has not gone unnoticed by my family. When I asked Alice for a suggestion for this week’s newsletter, she said, “Markets. You like a market.” I told Phoebe the subject and she said, “Yes, you like a good market”.
Lovely post. Lovely art work. If anyone is going to Paris the weekend flea market to go to is at Porte de Vanves. Not the other more famous one. We’ve taken lots of friends there and they adored it. Much safer than Clignancourt. You get the metro right there and it’s a fascinating walk back to the centre through real neighbourhoods. You can call into Montparnasse cemetery - and have lunch or whatever at Le Select or La Rotonde. We’ve bought such lovely stuff there.
Oh absolutely bloody love them! Just back from a stay in Delft where the market is twice a week and you can buy most things there, or just enjoy watching the people on the fish stalls who spend the entire day gutting and filleting herrings at huge speed ready for people to eat raw with onions and bread. Delicious! This year will also be visiting Offenburg in Germany and Vannes in Brittany, mostly for their fabulous local markets. They all have a very different character, and share the same features.
I love finding markets when I travel but have also been happy to find Gloucester Green market here in Oxford, which has an excellent fruit and veg stall alongside places to buy lunch (and many other things!) And the Covered Market, whilst not really a traditional market set up, is a delightful place too!
Glad to be in good company, I love markets too. I’m lucky enough to live in a French village that has a weekly market. I have visited it most weeks since we moved here 21 years ago. It still gives me the same buzz. Apart from fruit and veg I love the variety of items one can buy like the cut-price sock and hair accessory stall that has branched out to selling vintage haberdashery or the basket maker who weaves his baskets while watching the world go by, to name just a few. I too always look up places that have markets when I travel. My family are now used to it and tolerate my addition. 😀
Lovely article. Still some good markets in Lincolnshire. Husband on his way home from work on Friday (they let out early) goes to the flower stall and for 3-5 quid, I get a gorgeous bouquet to last the week. One of the nicest French markets we came across was Auray. LInk to their schedule here: https://www.baiedequiberon.co.uk/auray
Oh me too! In my Wiltshire town we have a Friday outdoor food market with fish from the Dorset coast and cheese from all over. New Forest venison too, but I don’t eat meat, and I’m yet to find a Lardy cake made from white vegetable fat, (but maybe that misses the point? ) and a daily greengrocer market where the £1 bowls are a great opportunity to grab a bargain for dinner. Always buzzing and you have to get there early; they are sold out and packed up by noon. But continental markets are a wonder to behold, especially Eastern European ones.
My home town is Stamford where the Friday market was the place to buy everything from Norfolk shrimps to tights from Leicester, shoes allegedly worn by models, cheap biscuits, plants, flowers and dirty Fenland veg. The WI had their Friday market in the Arts Centre where you could buy home made cakes and jam. I have lived in Scotland for 20 years and still haven’t found a proper market. There are some good farmer’s markets but they are too posh and too pricey for the real market experience.
I like markets, at least ones where no one expects you to haggle. But I also love supermarket self-checkouts and don't understand why people object to them - what's the attraction in having to make small talk with a complete stranger? The ones who comment on your shopping are the worst.
I also love markets, but am so much an introvert that I kind of struggle to actually buy stuff there. Also I have the feeling that markets are very often quite pricey in comparison (at least here in Hamburg, Germany). I just go there for the experience, but always have the feeling that I lack a certain kind of skill set to successfully shop there :D
One of my most cherished memories is stepping off the bus in Bath and into the flower market! I will never forget the mere intoxication of colour and fragrance. Now, thirty years on, I can still close my eyes and be transported to that moment, that feeling.... One of the great sadnesses of living stateside is there are no real markets. Sure, we have farmer's markets; I even sold at one for several years. But they don't have the feel of a village market. When I was a young woman, we had "flea markets" which I would liken to a village market. Every Monday, without fail, I accompanied my Mother to on in Auburndale FL to get fresh fruits and veg for our small nursing home. My son was a baby and made friends with a gentleman who made wooden toys. Without fail, he would purchase one from his friend for a whole dollar... I still have a trunk of trucks, ducks, and airplanes that I cannot part with because of the memories of those sweet days.
If you're ever in the Midlands I can recommend Shrewsbury indoor market x
Lovely post. Lovely art work. If anyone is going to Paris the weekend flea market to go to is at Porte de Vanves. Not the other more famous one. We’ve taken lots of friends there and they adored it. Much safer than Clignancourt. You get the metro right there and it’s a fascinating walk back to the centre through real neighbourhoods. You can call into Montparnasse cemetery - and have lunch or whatever at Le Select or La Rotonde. We’ve bought such lovely stuff there.
Oh absolutely bloody love them! Just back from a stay in Delft where the market is twice a week and you can buy most things there, or just enjoy watching the people on the fish stalls who spend the entire day gutting and filleting herrings at huge speed ready for people to eat raw with onions and bread. Delicious! This year will also be visiting Offenburg in Germany and Vannes in Brittany, mostly for their fabulous local markets. They all have a very different character, and share the same features.
Thanks for another such evocative piece 🙏🏼👌🏽💚
As always, your writings and art brighten my day. Thank you very much!
Great to see Coventry indoor market getting a mention & lucky enough to still have a weekly outdoor on in Kenilworth on Thursdays too - happy days!
I love finding markets when I travel but have also been happy to find Gloucester Green market here in Oxford, which has an excellent fruit and veg stall alongside places to buy lunch (and many other things!) And the Covered Market, whilst not really a traditional market set up, is a delightful place too!
Glad to be in good company, I love markets too. I’m lucky enough to live in a French village that has a weekly market. I have visited it most weeks since we moved here 21 years ago. It still gives me the same buzz. Apart from fruit and veg I love the variety of items one can buy like the cut-price sock and hair accessory stall that has branched out to selling vintage haberdashery or the basket maker who weaves his baskets while watching the world go by, to name just a few. I too always look up places that have markets when I travel. My family are now used to it and tolerate my addition. 😀
Lovely article. Still some good markets in Lincolnshire. Husband on his way home from work on Friday (they let out early) goes to the flower stall and for 3-5 quid, I get a gorgeous bouquet to last the week. One of the nicest French markets we came across was Auray. LInk to their schedule here: https://www.baiedequiberon.co.uk/auray
Oh me too! In my Wiltshire town we have a Friday outdoor food market with fish from the Dorset coast and cheese from all over. New Forest venison too, but I don’t eat meat, and I’m yet to find a Lardy cake made from white vegetable fat, (but maybe that misses the point? ) and a daily greengrocer market where the £1 bowls are a great opportunity to grab a bargain for dinner. Always buzzing and you have to get there early; they are sold out and packed up by noon. But continental markets are a wonder to behold, especially Eastern European ones.
Love a market - brought up near Carlisle and the indoor market there is a Victorian beauty, as is Durham where we currently live.
On holiday a while ago it was great to see the buzz in Thirsk and Driffield on market days, even though the markets themselves are no longer much.
I grew up in Oldham where we had Tommyfield market in our Yates a hot blob was an “all in” same recipe same warming feeling
My home town is Stamford where the Friday market was the place to buy everything from Norfolk shrimps to tights from Leicester, shoes allegedly worn by models, cheap biscuits, plants, flowers and dirty Fenland veg. The WI had their Friday market in the Arts Centre where you could buy home made cakes and jam. I have lived in Scotland for 20 years and still haven’t found a proper market. There are some good farmer’s markets but they are too posh and too pricey for the real market experience.
I like markets, at least ones where no one expects you to haggle. But I also love supermarket self-checkouts and don't understand why people object to them - what's the attraction in having to make small talk with a complete stranger? The ones who comment on your shopping are the worst.
I also love markets, but am so much an introvert that I kind of struggle to actually buy stuff there. Also I have the feeling that markets are very often quite pricey in comparison (at least here in Hamburg, Germany). I just go there for the experience, but always have the feeling that I lack a certain kind of skill set to successfully shop there :D
One of my most cherished memories is stepping off the bus in Bath and into the flower market! I will never forget the mere intoxication of colour and fragrance. Now, thirty years on, I can still close my eyes and be transported to that moment, that feeling.... One of the great sadnesses of living stateside is there are no real markets. Sure, we have farmer's markets; I even sold at one for several years. But they don't have the feel of a village market. When I was a young woman, we had "flea markets" which I would liken to a village market. Every Monday, without fail, I accompanied my Mother to on in Auburndale FL to get fresh fruits and veg for our small nursing home. My son was a baby and made friends with a gentleman who made wooden toys. Without fail, he would purchase one from his friend for a whole dollar... I still have a trunk of trucks, ducks, and airplanes that I cannot part with because of the memories of those sweet days.
This reminds me that my neighborhood farmers market should be coming back now it’s spring!