STREETSMART - Normandy - page 116

Left Market Right Antiques shop

Shopping Tips

Shopping Hours
Food shops tend to
open from 7 or 8am-7 or
8pm Monday-Saturday,
with a lunch break from
noon-2pm. Most open on
Sunday morning. Non-food
shops generally open
9am-6pm Monday-
Saturday. Hypermarkets,
supermarkets, department
stores and shops in city
centres and tourist towns
stay open over lunch;
others may take a break.
Smaller shops may close
one day a week, usually
Monday. Most shops are
closed Sunday afternoons.

Centre Ville, Centre
Commercial
The town centre - centre
ville - is often pedestrian-
ized and full of individual
food stores, boutiques
and gift shops, ideal for
leisurely browsing. At the
other end of the spectrum
is the centre commercial
on the outskirts of town,
where you will find vast
hypermarkets selling
everything from food to
garden furniture.

Regional Produce
Apart from cider,
Calvados and cheese
(see p55) , look out for
other local specialities:
superb home-made jams,
confiture de lait (a kind of
milk jam), sablés
d'Asnelles (a shortbread)
and sucres de pomme
(“apple sugars”- a type
of bonbon) to mention
just a few.

Fairs and Festivals
If you're interested in
buying local specialities,
check with the tourist
office to see if one of
Normandy's special food-
related markets, fairs or
festivals is taking place
nearby. These include:
black pudding (Mortagne),
mussels (Le Tréport),
cherries (Vernon), cheese
(Livarot, Neufchâtel-en-
Bray), prawns (Honfleur)
and herrings (Dieppe).

Markets
One of the great joys
of visiting Normandy is
shopping in the superb
weekly morning markets
(marchés) that really bring
country towns to life.
Arrive early to be sure of
the best choice; most end
at noon. Look out for the
specialist local producers
with only one or two lines
- perhaps cheese or foie
gras. Their goods are often
high in quality, relatively
low in price. Tourist offices
can supply a calendar of
market days in the area.

Taxes and
Allowances
If you live within the EU,
there are no limits on the
amount of wine, spirits,
tobacco and perfume you
can take home. For non-
EU residents, restrictions
apply. Non-EU residents
can claim back the value
added tax (TVA) on pur-
chases worth more than
€305 in one shop, as long
as they are to be exported
within six months.

Antiques, Arts
and Crafts
Normandy has many
antiques and bric-à-brac
shops in picturesque
towns. Arts and crafts
can be found in many
specialist shops and craft
centres (see pp64-5) .

Vente Directe
All over Normandy,
especially in the Pays
d'Auge (see pp32-3) , you
will see roadside signs
advertising vente directe
(direct selling) and
dégustation (tasting) of
home-made produce -
commonly cheese, cider
and Calvados, but also, for
example, foie gras and
honey. Make sure you like
what you taste - and don't
expect prices to be much
lower than in the shops.

Day Shopping
Trips
The Channel ports,
especially Dieppe, Le
Havre and Cherbourg, are
popular destinations for
day-trippers from England,
mostly intent on buying
wine and beer in hyper-
markets conveniently
placed near the ferry
terminals. A website,
www.day-tripper.net , has
all the information you
could need.

Clothes
Normandy is close to
Paris, and good clothes
are never far away. Caen
is especially noted for its
boutiques and department
stores; Deauville, where
the beau monde flock, is
like a miniature version
of the rue Faubourg St-
Honoré in Paris.

For the best markets See pp58-59

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