Marché de Blois — Place Louis XII
The closest proper weekly market to Chambord is in Blois, 18 km north — and it is worth the short drive. Every Saturday morning, Place Louis XII and the surrounding streets fill with Loire Valley producers selling goat's cheese from the Touraine, Sologne honey, white asparagus in spring, and bottles of Cheverny and Vouvray poured straight from the domaine.
What to Buy and Taste
The Loire Valley is France's garden, and the market reflects it: strawberries from Sologne, fat white asparagus in April and May, wild mushrooms (cèpes, chanterelles, pieds de mouton) in autumn, and the region's famous fromages de chèvre in every stage from fresh and milky to aged and ash-coated. The Crottin de Chavignol and Selles-sur-Cher AOC cheeses are the ones to seek out.
Don't leave without buying a wedge of fouée — a small, puffed flatbread unique to the Loire that vendors split open and fill with rillettes, goat's cheese, or mushroom cream on the spot. It is the Loire Valley's answer to street food and one of the region's most underrated pleasures.
Blois Old Town Around the Market
After the market, walk uphill through the old town to the Château Royal de Blois, a single building that contains four distinct architectural wings spanning Gothic, early Renaissance, high Renaissance, and classical styles — a compact crash course in French royal history that most visitors skip in favour of Chambord. The François I wing's external spiral staircase loggia is one of the finest pieces of Renaissance architecture in France.
The Maison de la Magie Robert-Houdin, opposite the château on Place du Château, is a quirky museum dedicated to the 19th-century magician who inspired Houdini — its fire-breathing dragon heads that emerge from the windows on the hour are a reliable crowd-pleaser for children and adults alike.
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