The Food
Last but not least in the region is eating and drinking – a subject very close to my heart. The market culture is still very much alive and well in this region. The local markets tend to be vibrant and flourishing with lots of local produce. When you go to the markets you will need cash as they most of them certainly don’t do credit cards. You can click on the buttons below to see all the the markets in the Bearn and the French Basque country but here are some of my favourites.
Markets
Salies de Bearn – Thursday market in a really beautiful setting with a mixture of local produce and some more touristy items.
Dax market – Saturday this is a large market look out for the oyster stall and there is a whole area just dedicated to duck
Oloron-Sainte-Marie – Friday good market with lots of local produce – people selling just a few vegetables obviously straight from their garden. Oloron also has a huge Leclerc which is the best supermarket in our area.
Anglet – Sunday (also Thursday but I have only been on a Sunday so don’t know if they are the same) large market full of lots of food – great atmosphere
Mauleon-Licharre – Saturday – I have a soft spot for this as it our local market. It is not a large market but it has good local produce, a wonderful old fashioned café to have a coffee, and the whole atmosphere is often enhanced by an accordion player or a local Basque band playing – just love it
Restaurants
There is not much fine dining in the area but a host of wonderful Auberges serving perfectly cooked simple dishes at good prices.
Local Auberges
Auberge Claverie near Navarrenx no website but click on the link below to find it
Augerge de la Fontaine in Laas
La Belle Auberge in Castagnède
These are all great auberges serving classic French food at good prices. They exemplify all the historical reasons why French food became so famous
Restaurant Chez Germaine in Geüs-d’Oloron is a local restaurant which serves very good quality local food and is a step above our local Auberges without being too expensive
Restaurant Arcé in Saint-Étienne-de-Baïgorry. This is also a very nice restaurant. Ask for a table on the terrace which overlooks the river which is a lovely setting for a meal. The food is pretty good too!
Michel Guérard in Eugénie Les Bains near Mont de Marsan. This is a magnificent Michelin 3 star restaurant in a beautiful setting where I enjoyed the best meal of my life. I think it’s for very special occasions only! You can also stay the night there or in a smaller Annex close to the restaurant which brings the price down a bit.
The other place you can go to if you want to push the boat out is to San Sebastien. It has a selection of Michelin 3 star, 2 star and 1 star restaurants. If we go there for a big meal we will often stay in one of the numerous hotels locally to be able to enjoy it to the full
Local Food & Wine
Food
The markets are obviously good places to buy local produce but the supermarkets also tend to be great at stocking local produce and their wet fish stands and delicatessen’s are always such a joy as well. The SW of France is home to all things duck so if you like duck and foie gras then this is the place for you. There is lots of locally produced foie gras in the markets and local farms when you are driving around. Sadly bird flu in 2023 has decimated the local flocks so at the moment duck is very expensive in the area. France started a vaccination programme for all ducks in October 2023 so hopefully the flocks will recover next year.
Local fish and oysters are another must – oysters are often < €12 a dozen make sure you have an oyster knife.
The food is seasonal – I am writing this in October and we have just come back from the house and the markets were full of locally foraged cepes and girolles – wonderful.
Wine
The wine selections in the supermarkets are always comprehensive and always include local wines. There are some local wines you may not have heard of which are worth trying. These include
Jurancon Sec – Jurancon is famous for its sweet wines but it also produces an excellent dry white which is widely available and tends to be great value at about €6
Madiran – this tends to be a full bodied red – can have quite a high alcohol content so check the wine percentage if you don’t want to have a sore head.
Irouleguy this is produced in the Basque country and has some good whites and reds
Rose wine is just great value in France as opposed to the vastly overpriced rose in the UK. It is easy to pick up delicious rose wine from the SW of France in all the supermarkets at prices under €4. My favourite is Listel Grain de Gris which always reminds me of my late father in law who first introduced me to it and is available in all supermarkets
Cheese
The local cheese here is brebis- which is made from ewes milk. It is available in all the markets and everywhere you drive in the region there are signposts to local fromageries where you can buy cheese directly from the farm. It is a hard cheese and very tasty. As well as the local brebis the local markets usually have some delicious local goats (chèvre) cheeses as well . In addition to the cheese in the markets the supermarkets are always filled with a huge array of cheeses from all over France – always such a hard decision to choose!
