Royan is a seaside town that manages to be pleasant and charmingly French in spite of its proliferation of post-war architecture.
Maybe it’s the proliferation of fine sandy beaches (Royan has five of them), maybe it’s the consistently fine weather (the nice micro-climate of the Gironde Estuary is certainly an appeal) or maybe it’s just that it’s a great French town – full of life, commerce and seaside fun.
In any case, the central daily market in the Halles Centrales on Boulevard Briand is a good reason to love the town. Typically, they’ve gone for a circular modern-looking shell structure, as opposed to the more typical turn-of-the-century steel-and-glass approach. The inspirational building was constructed in the mid-1950s, restored in 2003 and benefits from having no internal pillar supports.
The usual mixture of delights are to be found here every day of the week (in season – see below), with a huge emphasis on enormous fruit and fresh fish and shellfish.
Opening hours are from 07:00 to 13:00 every day from the 1st of July to the 31st of August. From the 1st of September to the 30th of June, it is open every day except Monday.
Where Exactly? (The map below is the Tootlafrance Market Guide; explore the 200+ growing list of fabulous French markets with links to information on opening hours)
See below the latest Gosh Galleries images from Royan Central Market