Every Tuesday and Friday sees a Market in Civray.
Tuesday is the bigger of the two when it is not only food being offered for sale but all manner of goods as well. Friday is solely a food market and also is much smaller than that of earlier in the week.
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| Market |
The market is a day when many English congregate in the town. They gather in cafés and bars exchanging news and gossip. I tend to keep myself to myself and I am pretty selective as to who I talk to. This is not through any dislike of the English but merely through the fact that I have come to live in France to live as the French. I do not want to live in an expat community.
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| Les Anglais |
Markets are days when I relax and people watch. I love to drink a café or Perrier? - well not all the time!!!! - and just do nothing.
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| Bières |
I wander about with no particular place to go (Is that a song???)
For the most part it is not a problem.
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| Café Scene At Central Bar or Chez Claude |
The cafés and bars are an ideal to place to people watch, my favourite being Chez Claude - the Central Bar. The English tend to gather on the pavement tables whereas the locals keep to the interior tables. I go from one to the other depending on the weather and who is about.
During July and August it can become very busy. (Most of these photos were taken in September when many tourists have gone home and market days are quieter.). In the peak months English voices can outnumber French.
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| Staff Are Kept Busy In Cafés And Bars |
Contrary to what many think, French markets can be very expensive places to shop. Many stalls sell goods from Cash and Carry outlets - in the case of Civray - Poitiers. Fruit and vegetables for example can be dearer than supermarkets. It takes a bit of searching and trial and error to locate genuine locally sourced food produce, which is competitively priced and of good quality.
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| Plants For The Garden |
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| Poisson From The Atlantic |
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| Local Honey - On The Stall That Is!!!! |
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| Busy Boucherie |
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| Melons - A Local Product |
But for difficult to source items the local market is still a better option. Especially for those who have difficulty in travelling further afield.
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| Carpets |
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| Headgear |
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| Haberdashery |
Market Days are social occasions where quick service is not necessarily on the agenda and conversation and catching up on news and gossip takes precedence over any transactions. If you understand that and can go with the flow, then you are there.
Click
here for Market Days slideshow.
