Saint-Malo is one of those Breton fortified towns that people in Ireland might regard with admiration tinged with a certain degree of envy. Its walled bastion of a town sits at the end of a promontory flanked by magnificent stretches of beach on either side.
It may surprise many to learn that the old city of Saint Malo suffered 70% destruction during the Second World War and much of what you see in its old walls and cobbled streets has been rebuilt since then.
There are four markets in St Malo.
The first is the Marché de St Servan in the covered Les Halles on Place Bouvet and outside on the square itself. It is just to the south of the citadel but still in a part of town with attractive 19th-century architecture. Taking place every Tuesday and Friday from 08:00 to 13:00, the market proposes high-quality local food in a convivial atmosphere, with the exterior selling mostly clothing.
The main food market in Saint-Malo takes place intra-muros – i.e. within the ancient city walls of the citadel itself, where the backdrop is jaw-droppingly gorgeous. Every Tuesday and Friday morning from 08:00 to 13:00 at the Place de la Poissonnerie. Seafood is in abundance here and anyone partial to oysters from Cancale or fresh spider-crab will be in their element.
To the west of Saint-Malo lies a very different and more modern town and it’s here on Place Georges Coudray that the Marché de Paramé takes place every Wednesday and Saturday morning in a very local atmosphere, selling a variety of foodstuffs and local produce from 08:00 to 13:00.
Overlooked by a fine Gothic-style church, the open-air Marché de Rocabay on the Boulevard de la Tour d’Auvergne takes place each Monday, Thursday and Saturday morning. A smaller affair than the others, but worth checking out nonetheless, particularly in summer.
Finally, in the run-up to Christmas, the Yuletide market runs daily on the Place Chateaubriand, filling the intra-muros air with the scents of chocolate marrons glacés and countless other offerings of seasonal yummy-ness.
For location of Saint-Malo markets and other markets in France, see the Tootlafrance.ie growing market map below…
View Tootlafrance Market Guide in a larger map