Marché de Loches

The market in Loches is the best way to meet the town as its inhabitants know it, and it takes place in the shadow of one of the most impressive medieval sites of the Loire valley. Loches stands on the river Indre, in the Touraine, and its upper town, the Cité Royale, is a walled enclosure on a rocky hill. The market is held in the lower town on set mornings of the week, and the stalls fill the streets and squares around the old centre with fruit, vegetables, flowers, cheese, bread, charcuterie and other foods. Precise days and stall layouts vary with the season, so ask at the tourist office or check the town's website before planning around it.

Markets in the Touraine reflect the farming of the region. The Loire valley is a garden of France, with orchards, vegetable plots and vineyards, and local specialities include goat's cheese, with the pyramid-shaped cheeses of the Sainte-Maure family among the best known. Honey, walnut products, rillettes, local sausages, and the wines of Touraine are also typical. Stallholders usually offer tastes, so it is easy to put together a picnic of cheese, bread, fruit and a bottle of wine, and to eat it by the river or in one of the town's parks. The market is also a social event, where locals meet and talk, and visitors are welcome.

The town above the market is the other reason to visit. The Château de Loches is a royal residence of the late Middle Ages that stands on the hill, with a mighty keep, an eleventh-century stronghold that is among the oldest surviving in France. The Logis Royal, the royal lodging, is a late Gothic and early Renaissance building that housed Charles VII, and it was here that Joan of Arc met the king in 1429 after her victory at Orléans to urge him to go to Reims for his coronation. The tomb of Agnès Sorel, his famous favourite, can also be seen. The keep and the towers served as a state prison, and Ludovico Sforza, the Duke of Milan, died a prisoner here in the early sixteenth century.

In the Cité Royale, the Église Saint-Ours is a Romanesque collegiate church known for its unusual stone pyramids over the nave. The Tour Guillaume and the old streets lead through the upper town, while the Musée du Vieux Loches tells the story of the town's life. The Rue des Écrivains adds a note of literary tradition.

Plan a visit to the market in the morning, then spend the afternoon in the Cité Royale. It suits food lovers, families and anyone interested in the Loire valley beyond the grand châteaux. Wear comfortable shoes for the cobbles and the climb.