Marché de Perros-Guirec

Perros-Guirec is the main seaside town of the Côte de Granit Rose, the Pink Granite Coast, in the Côtes-d'Armor department of Brittany, and its market is the best place to meet the town beyond the beaches. The main market is held on Friday mornings in the centre of the town, around the town hall, and extra stalls appear in the high season in the resort districts near the beach, so check the days with the tourist office before you go. Arriving early in the morning gives the best choice and the liveliest atmosphere, when stallholders are setting out their produce and shoppers fill the streets.

The stalls reflect the coast and the countryside of the Trégor, the area around Lannion and Tréguier. Fish and shellfish are the first attraction, with crabs, scallops, oysters, mussels and fresh fish from the boats that work from the small ports along the coast. The fertile coastal strip of northern Brittany is also one of the main market-gardening areas of France, and the stalls are piled with artichokes, cauliflowers, new potatoes, shallots and the pink onions of Roscoff in season, as well as strawberries and other fruit. Breton specialities include butter biscuits, the kouign-amann, a rich, caramelised butter cake, caramels made with salted butter, buckwheat flour for galettes, cider and local honey. Other stalls sell bread, cheeses, charcuterie, flowers, plants, clothes and artisan crafts.

The market is a family-friendly place with an easy, local atmosphere, and traders are happy to give advice or a taste. It is also a good place to assemble a picnic for a day on the coast or a walk on the customs officers' path, the Sentier des Douaniers, which follows the shore of the Pink Granite Coast. Parking is available near the centre, though it fills on market days, so arrive early or walk from further away.

The pink granite coast is the main attraction of the area. Rounded boulders of pink and orange rock, shaped by the sea into curious forms, line the shore at Trestraou and Ploumanac'h, and the best way to see them is on the coastal path. From Perros-Guirec, boat trips go to the Sept-Îles, an archipelago that is a bird reserve, home to puffins and gannets, and the Plage de Trestraou, the main beach, has a sailing school and a seafront promenade. The Église Saint-Jacques in the town has a Romanesque tower.

The market suits food lovers, families and visitors who want a morning of local life. Allow an hour. Bring a bag, and cash for the smaller stalls.