On our recent trip to France, my husband and I spent six days in Blois, located in the Loire Valley. Blois is a lovely town located along the Loire River and is centrally located to many of the attractions in the area. We were pleasantly surprised to find a street market in process one Saturday morning. The street markets in France have been a tradition for hundreds of years and remain popular today with locals and tourists.
Most cities and villages in France have a market day where you will find a wide variety of items including fruit, vegetables, olives, seafood, cheese, as well as other items like clothing, rugs, and much more.
I was taking a photograph of the display below when the vendor came up to me and, with a serious look said, “no photo.” I was horrified and said “je suis désolé monsieur!” At that point he broke into a wide grin and began to tell me about his products. Between his limited English and my limited French we were able to communicate without any problems. Et, bien sur, we bought some cheese.
The street market is a great place to get picnic supplies; bread, cheese, fruit, wine, then head to a nearby chateau and enjoy the gorgeous scenery. One of my favorites is Chenonceau which is not far from Blois. Click here to read more about castles in the Loire Valley and beyond.
A word of warning, be careful when buying cheese, sausage and other items that are cut from a large block. The vendor will often assume that you want a large portion and you may end up spending beaucoup d’argent (money) on just one item! Use the phrase “un peu moins, s’il vous plait” if you want less.
If you enjoyed this blog, check out my post about the market in L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue.
As of March 14, 2022, theTravelsketcher and I have achieved our dream of living in France. You can keep up to date on our adventures by signing up to follow our blogs. I post only once a week, so you won’t be inundated with reading material. 😊
As always, please leave a comment, I would love to hear from you.
Wishing you grand adventures,
Tricia
Travels Through My Lens 
What wonderful photos!
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Thank you Lisa!
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Thanks for this great post! Doing our research and will be in Amboise for 3 nights in early June and while we will miss their market day, I’ve been trying to research other nearby markets. Will definitely make it to this one in Blois!
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I’m glad you enjoyed the post. I hope you enjoy your time in the Loire. Most towns have a market day; hopefully you can find some that are open when you’re there. Thanks for your comment!
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