Sarlat, Market Town Extraordinaire

Friday, May 24, through Thursday, May 30

Sarlat is known for being a very good market town. When we stayed here in 2012, we got to see both the Wednesday and Saturday markets, the two days markets are held each week.

Not long before we left for France this year, I saw a Facebook post by Cameron Hewitt, one of Rick Steves’ primary guidebook writers and a good blogger to follow. He was listing the top 10 markets in Europe. It was a countdown from #10 to #1. Sarlat garnered the #1 spot. That’s some serious street cred.

Saturday Market in Sarlat—It’s larger and includes purveyors of goods, such as soaps and clothing, not just food items.

Wednesday Market—Seemed to be just as crowded, though there were lots fewer vendors.

But we hit the jackpot, if seeing markets is your wish. Not only were we there for the two regular weekly markets, but we got a special bonus. On Thursday, France (or at least this part of France) was celebrating Ascension Thursday. Many people had a 4-day weekend. In Sarlat that translated to having the market on Thursday and Friday as well. That meant we were almost in a state of perpetual marketdom while we were there.

Ah, but the Ascension holiday brought something extra. Animals. Lots of animals. Penned animals. Many kinds of chickens, which meant we had competing roosters waking us early those last two days. Rabbits, donkeys, goats, ducks and geese, horses and cows. The pens were set up on Wednesday. The animals arrived early Thursday morning. Most of the horses and cows got a reprieve Thursday night, but the rest spent the night in their cages.

To say this is a popular event would be making a fairly mild statement. People arrived in droves, and families were heavily represented. Our apartment was located on a small, interior square. It had been designated a children’s space. We had chickens, pigeons, and rabbits in cages. But we also had a face painting station and tables and materials set up for art projects.

I love markets, and it was a lucky thing to be able to see this special event, but this was right on the edge of there being too much of a good thing.