The market of Étaples-sur-Mer in Pas-de-Calais has been voted the best in the whole of France – by French people themselves.
For the past four years, TV channel TF1 has hosted the Plus Beau Marché de France competition, in which the winner is chosen by public vote. Previous winners include Dieppe, which won in 2020, Montbrison and Sanary-sur-Mer. This year, 3.5m people voted for their favourite out of 24 entrants, with Étaples’s 200-year-old market coming out on top.
Twice a week on Tuesdays and Fridays, Place du Général de Gaulle and its adjacent streets host the many stalls where local traders sell their wares. Just a stone’s throw from the River Canche, it’s one of the largest markets on the Opal Coast – not bad for a town of just 11,300 people. You will also find daily stalls selling seafood in the harbour.
If you fancy discovering more markets along the Opal Coast, download the new Saveur Marché app, which will show you where to find traders, artisans and producers throughout the area, with useful information on days, times and more.
The full list of Plus Beau Marché 2021 entrants in order of the number of votes they received is:
- Marché d’Étaples-sur-Mer, Nord-Pas-de-Calais
- Halles de Narbonne, Languedoc-Roussillon
- Marché de Chatillon-sur-Chalaronne, Rhône-Alpes
- Marché de Sarlat, Aquitaine
- Marché de Sotteville-Lès-Rouen, Haute-Normandie
- Marché de Rochefort, Poitou-Charentes
- Halles des Sables-d’Olonne, Pays de la Loire
- Marché de Lesneven, Bretagne
- Halles de Troyes, Champagne-Ardenne
- Marché d’Obernai, Alsace
- Marché de Toulon, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur
- Marché du Chaudron de Saint-Denis, La Réunion
- Marché du François en Martinique, Martinique
- Marché de Besse, Auvergne
- Marché de Chablis, Bourgogne
- Marché Saint Leu d’Amiens, Picardie
- Marché Saint-Girons, Midi-Pyrénées
- Marché Central de Nancy, Lorraine
- Halles de l’Isle-Adam, Île-de-France
- Trouville-sur-Mer, Basse-Normandie
- Marché couvert de l’Île Rousse, Corse
- Halles de Vesoul, Franche-Comté
- Marché Marceau de Limoges, Limousin
- Marché du quai du Roi d’Orléans, Centre
Read more about this year’s Plus Beau Marché entrants.
My grandmother and her 4 brothers lived in Etaples with their mother who died there in 1919 due to the pandemic.
Their father was an american artist living between his wife in NY and his lover in Etaples. He brought them to New
Jersey and had to get them all adopted. I’m still wondering if it is still an art community- my grand mother went back
later in life and said it was. Well, cooking is an art and you have this wonderful market in Etaples. Wish I could
see it.