Rue des Halles

The Rue des Halles is one of the streets of the old centre of Périgueux that leads toward the market quarter, and the town's markets are the best introduction to the food of the Périgord, the old name for the Dordogne department, which is one of the great gastronomic regions of France. Périgueux, a small and quiet prefecture on the river Isle, is divided into two historic quarters, the Cité, which is the old Roman and Gallo-Roman town with the Vesunna museum, and the Puy-Saint-Front, the medieval and Renaissance quarter that grew up around the abbey, and the market streets lie in the second, near the cathedral. Few details of this particular street are documented, so this description concerns the market district around it.

The main market days are Wednesday and Saturday, when stalls fill the squares of the old town, in particular the Place du Coderc, a bright, pedestrian square lined with cafés, and the lanes around it. In winter the town hosts a famous marché au gras, a market of fatted ducks and geese and foie gras, held on Wednesday and Saturday mornings from about November to March, when producers bring their birds and their jars. The covered hall and the shops along the street offer produce from the whole of the region. Périgord is renowned for its foie gras of duck and goose, for confit de canard, duck preserved in its own fat, for magret, the duck breast, for walnuts and walnut oil, for strawberries from the valley of the Dordogne and for the black truffle of the Périgord, the black diamond, which is harvested in winter and sold at special truffle markets in nearby towns. The cheeses include the soft Cabécou goat's cheese from Rocamadour, and the wines of the Bergerac, Monbazillac and Pécharmant appellations are made not far away.

Cafés and small restaurants in the surrounding streets serve local dishes, among them salads with walnuts and gizzards, duck with cèpes, the local mushrooms, and the walnut cake. The street is a pleasant place for a stroll and a coffee, and shops sell regional specialities, jars of pâté, bottles of walnut liqueur and boxes of local biscuits. An early start gives the best selection, and many market stalls close at lunchtime.

The market quarter is close to the main monuments. The Cathédrale Saint-Front, a vast church crowned with white domes in a style inspired by Byzantine churches, is one of the major monuments of southern France and a stop on the pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela, and the lanes of the Puy-Saint-Front, with their Renaissance houses and spiral staircases, are a short walk away. The Musée du Périgord, which has a good collection of prehistoric objects, and the Vesunna Gallo-Roman Museum, designed by Jean Nouvel, are also in the town, and the Parc de la Vésone is a pleasant green space.

The street suits food lovers and visitors exploring the Dordogne.