Marché de Riom

Riom is a small town in the Limagne plain of the Auvergne, a few kilometres north of Clermont-Ferrand, and its market, held on Wednesday and Saturday mornings, is an easy way to see the town at its most animated. Stalls fill the streets and squares of the old centre, where locals have been buying their produce for centuries, and the setting is as appealing as the goods. Riom has the look of a town of consistent character, since many of its buildings are made of the same dark volcanic stone, quarried from the lava flows at nearby Volvic, which gives the streets a distinctive grey-black tone.

The town was an important centre in the Middle Ages and the capital of the duchy of Auvergne, and in the late fourteenth century it was the seat of Jean de Berry, the son of King John II of France and a great patron of the arts. The duke had a palace built here, and the only part that survives is the Sainte-Chapelle, completed in the early fifteenth century in a refined Flamboyant Gothic style, and famous for its stained glass, which was restored in recent years. The chapel is a short walk from the market and worth a visit. Later, the town became a judicial centre, with a court of appeal, and the lawyers and officials who lived here built handsome townhouses in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, many of which survive.

The market is a good way to taste the products of the Auvergne. The region is known for its cheeses, including Saint-Nectaire, Cantal, Fourme d'Ambert and Bleu d'Auvergne, which stallholders cut to order, and for cured meats such as the Auvergne ham and sausages, and there are local fruit and vegetables from the fertile plain, as well as bread, honey, walnuts and flowers. The Limagne is among the most productive agricultural lands in France, and the quality of the produce reflects it. Cafés on the squares offer a place to sit down with a coffee, and many local people make the market a regular social occasion.

The old town merits a longer walk. The Tour de l'Horloge, a belfry, has a spiral staircase of 128 steps, and the climb is rewarded by a view over the roofs of Riom and across the plain towards the chain of volcanoes known as the Chaîne des Puys, including the Puy de Dôme. The Église Notre-Dame-du-Marthuret holds a celebrated medieval statue, the Vierge à l'oiseau, and the Musée Mandet and the Musée Régional d'Auvergne explain the art and traditions of the region. The town is also close to Volvic, with its mineral water and its lava quarries, and to the volcanoes.

The market suits food lovers and those who like to see small towns in action. Go in the morning, when the stalls are full, and combine it with a walk through the old streets. Market times and the town's other attractions may vary, so check locally.