The Tuesday market in Möelan-sur-Mer is a busy and fun place, more of a social event than a shopping trip and the range and variety of size in produce is so unlike a UK supermarket or even many English markets. All sorts of things are for sale: flowers, vegetables, clothes, and hot food. Mainly home-made or home-grown produce e.g. eggs, jam, cheese, vegetables, pastries and cider. Plus of course the lovely rotisserie chicken carts. Also lots of conversation. There is something special about our markets; somehow it epitomises much of what goes to create the unique character of Brittany - the lack of haste, the gentle friendliness of the people who live here and, above all, an abundance of great produce.

People also seem to value the market and there appears to be less of the omnipresent chain stores. The cafés and bars all feel independent; the markets sell local produce and are large and bustling. French cars, wine, food and beer are dominant, maybe to some people it could feel stifling, but to us it is refreshing. In the market people taste and bargain, buy their vegetables and meat for the week, have lunch with friends and buy flowers. Lots of clothing for sale too, maybe half the market is devoted to clothes, jewellery or similar.

In England there seems to be nothing that is quite the same, the typical market doesn't sell the local produce, the farmer's market is local or deli produce and feels more up market, with less of a populist feel. Möelan-sur-Mer market feels like a central part of the town, in the UK supermarket chains dominant to the exclusion of the local market, the butchers and the bakers.

I have found that many market traders offer tiny pieces of a product as tasters, as to whether you eat them or refuse them is up to you. The British idea of politeness is very different from ours, as we do not have words for ‘please’ and ‘thank-you’ in our local dialects, and can find British people thanking us constantly quite irritating. But we don’t seem to mind if that same view of politeness obliges Brits to buy our wares. Of course, traders know that foreigners are more likely to buy than us if they’ve had a taster, so we sell hard. Enjoy tasting, and then selecting what you actually want, according to deliciousness and price.