French village and town markets are an absolute delight. Many of the local villages do have market stalls one or two days a week, but most of them are quite small. Even Autignac has the fish man (Thursday) and vegetable and meat man (Friday) - listen for the “Allo, Allo” from the Mairie.

For larger markets though, try Pezenas (Saturday), Lamalou les Bains (Tuesday) or Saint Chinian (Thursday), all are pretty good, especially Pezenas though the town does get very busy on a summer Saturday morning. Of course a trip to Pezenas market can be combined with a wander around the lovely old town with it’s narrow streets, maybe even try the famous “Petits Pates” supposedly invented by Clive of India (though we were rather underwhelmed ourselves, but maybe we didn’t go to the right place!).

Finally there is the famous flower market in Beziers on Friday. This is predominantly plants for the garden rather than cut flowers but is an interesting and colourful place to visit and can be combined with Beziers old town and Cathedral. Here are a few photos to whet your appetite.

Visit the “Markets” gallery in the Photo Galleries section for a sample of some of the wonderful sights taken from various markets around the area.