Marché des Halles de Chartres
Every Saturday morning the covered market hall on Place Billard and the surrounding streets fill with farmers, fromageries and charcutiers from the Beauce and Perche regions, making it the most authentic food-shopping experience within an hour of Paris. Come hungry — the rotisserie chickens alone are worth the train ticket.
What to Buy & Eat
Look for Beauce wheat-flour breads from local boulangers, ripe Camembert and Brie de Meaux trucked in from neighbouring farms, and bundles of white asparagus in spring. The poultry stalls carry Label Rouge chickens and guinea fowl that Parisian chefs drive out specifically to source.
Several stalls sell prepared dishes to eat on the spot — buckwheat galettes, andouillette sausages grilled on portable barbecues, and tubs of rillettes du Mans. Pair any of them with a plastic cup of local apple cider from the Perche producers who set up near the entrance on Rue des Changes.
The market also has a small flower section spilling onto the cobbles outside, making the whole scene photogenic even before the cathedral appears in the background.
Beyond the Food Hall
The Saturday market extends down Rue du Cygne and into Place du Marché au Grain, where a flea-and-brocante section sells vintage linens, enamel kitchenware and the occasional piece of stained-glass fragment rescued from old Eure-et-Loir farmhouses. Arrive by 8 a.m. for the best brocante finds before dealers cherry-pick the stalls.
A smaller mid-week market runs on Wednesday mornings in the same location, focused purely on fresh produce — useful if you are staying locally and want to self-cater without Saturday crowds.
Marché des Halles de Chartres on video
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