Markets are always an opportunity to discover and take part in daily village
life… and to find delicious seasonal produce.
Markets and fairs have always been a feature of life in our towns and villages.
For example, would you believe that Saturday has been market day in Dax since
1356. Every Monday in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, livestock and lambs take over
the streets at dawn for the weekly market on Place du Trinquet.
The most typical markets of Aquitaine are certainly the duck and goose
markets selling the famous foie gras and other products from
fattened birds.
Between mid-October and the end of March, they are held all over the
region, from Montignac to Orthez, Monségur to Villeneuve-sur-Lot and
Aire-sur-l’Adour to Périgueux.
Among the specialities of Aquitaine, we should mention the truffle
markets – the black diamonds of Perigord. They are held in the winter season
in a large number of villages in the Dordogne.
Alongside these exceptional items, there are all the products of farms,
market gardens and the nearby ocean bringing colour to market stalls, festivals
and fairs over the course of the year.
Bazas beef has its special festival on the Thursday before Shrove
Tuesday, Pauillac lamb at the end of May, shad from the region’s rivers on the
last weekend in June, Espelette chilli peppers in October and so on all year
round!
To wash down these different delights, every corner of Aquitaine has its
wines from its local vineyards.
Or you can enjoy it all in some of our good
restaurants and learn how to prepare it at cookery
lessons…