Les Halles d'Angoulême Central Market
Tucked behind the Hôtel de Ville in the heart of the old town, Les Halles is a covered iron-and-glass market hall that has been feeding Angoulême since 1886. On weekend mornings the stalls overflow onto the surrounding streets, and the air smells simultaneously of ripe Charentais melon, fresh oysters from Marennes-Oléron and warm galettes from the crêpe stand by the south entrance.
What to Buy and Eat
The Charente-Maritime coast is only 90 kilometres away, so the fish and shellfish counters are exceptional: look for fines de claire oysters, mouclade mussels cooked in Pineau des Charentes, and whole turbots that arrived this morning.
Inland producers bring in walnuts, cèpe mushrooms (in autumn), goat's cheeses from the Ruffec plateau and bottles of Pineau des Charentes — the local aperitif made from grape juice and Cognac — at prices you will not find in any wine shop.
Several prepared-food stalls sell sliced duck confit, terrines and rillettes by weight; pick up a paper parcel and eat it on the rampart benches with a baguette from the baker two stalls along.
The Saturday Street Extension
On Saturday mornings the market spills out along the Rue de Beaulieu and Place du Minage, where small-scale farmers set up fold-out tables with whatever is in season — strawberries in May, tomatoes in August, chestnuts in October.
A handful of artisan producers sell handmade soaps, beeswax candles and Charentais pottery, making the Saturday version feel more like a village fête than a standard city market.
Arrive before 10 h for the best selection and a more relaxed atmosphere; by noon the stalls begin to pack up and the cafés around the square fill with locals comparing their hauls over a glass of white Bergerac.
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