Cities never fail to deliver on food scene diversity. From indoor artisanal to outdoor cosmopolitan, Amiens’ markets are in a league of their own.
In the Northern France city of Amiens ‒ an easy 90-minute drive from Calais and also close to the A1 and A16 motorways ‒ the locals are lucky enough to have a different market to suit every taste, mood, budget or agenda.
For starters, every Saturday, on the Somme quayside in the St Leu area (just a stone's throw from the cathedrale), there’s a charming market bringing to town all the freshest fruit, veg and flowers from the city’s famous ‘hortillonnages’ market gardens. Or there’s the permanent ‘Halles’, a high-end indoor market in the main shopping district. Chock full of products to pique your curiosity ‒ from ‘Oreilles-de-Cochon’ (a plant for cuisine, not a pig part!), ‘Moules-de-Bouchot’ (mussels produced on poles in the sea) and ‘Bleue-Reide’ (Amiens’ blue beer) – it’s an inviting emporium of all Northern France’s best specialities.
But the most traditional French market scene, and packed to the rafters with locals, is the outdoor city-market in the shade of the belfry on Saturdays; just head to the grand Hôtel-de-Ville and follow your nose to Place-Maurice-Vast. This one’s all day and with specialists like bakers, charcutiers and stalls of French cheeses of every size, shape and strength, to call it a vast outdoor deli wouldn’t be too far wrong. With your brunch, French picnic and tasty take-homes safely stowed away in your basket, complete the Amiens experience by visiting the Hortillonnages floating gardens, Jules Verne’s house and the famous cathedral.
Useful information
Tourist Board Information of Amiens
23 Place Notre Dame
F-80000 Amiens
Tel: +33 3 22 71 60 50
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