Marché Couvert de Verdun
Verdun's covered market on Place du Marché breathes local life into Saturday mornings, filling its 19th-century iron-and-glass hall with the smells of fresh mirabelle jam, aged Comté and boudin blanc de Rethel. It is the single best place in the city to eat and shop like a Verdunois.
What to Buy
Mirabelle plums are the pride of Lorraine, and you will find them here as fresh fruit in August, as eau-de-vie, jam and tart filling year-round. Several stalls also sell the dragées de Verdun — the sugar-coated almonds that have been made in this city since the 13th century and remain its most iconic edible souvenir.
Local cheesemakers bring Munster, Brie de Meaux and farmhouse Camembert, while charcutiers pile sliced jambon de la Meuse and rillettes onto paper for tasting. Arrive before 10:00 for the best selection before the serious shoppers have cleared the shelves.
Eating Around the Market
A ring of small cafés and boulangeries surrounds the hall; grab a café crème and a warm croissant at one of the zinc-countered bars and watch the stall-holders set up — it is one of the most genuinely French scenes in the whole of Lorraine.
The neighbouring Rue Mazel has a handful of fromageries and épiceries fines that stock regional wines from the Côtes de Meuse, a small but distinctive appellation producing pale, mineral rosés that pair perfectly with a picnic on the Meuse riverbank.
More of Verdun
Discover where to stay, what to do and the best deals for your trip.
Explore Verdun →
