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It is the flea market to end flea markets. The happy hunting ground for anyone who loves to root around in the wares of speciality antiques dealers and purveyors of bric-a-brac. You can buy anything from terracotta cheese moulds, boxes of old keys and antique dolls to Limoges breakfast sets: the only rule is that nothing for sale is new. It’s the Grande Réderie d’Amiens, which happens twice a year. Amiens is a charming northern city and worth visiting in its own right. But, if you can throw in an enormous street market, why, it’s a win-win. The market is so popular you get queues from 5am; alas, we pitched up around lunchtime, but there was still plenty on offer. The stalls on the periphery of the market have a random aspect — military helmets, second-hand dolls and kitchen equipment — which is all fun, if a little unprepossessing, but in the central square there are finer pickings. There’s a stall with 16th-century wooden figures and painted ceramics, which were covetable and pricey — if I had had a couple of thousand euros I would have snapped up a lovely majolica platter, which looked Renaissance to me. But with only a modest budget, I gravitated to a nice old man sitting next to a great mound of linen. A set of heavy old sheets for €25? Yes please! There are a number of stalls that sell pottery; if you’re buying a breakfast set, I’d make for this market. There are sets here for risibly small amounts. Only the practicalities of transport stopped me from snapping up half a dozen fabulous cups and saucers for €30. But I did get a couple of decorated plates specifically for artichokes and asparagus, with indentations for the melted butter. My daughter bargained for some French Revolutionary plates. But note, most of the stallholders offer a fair price and so aren’t in the business of haggling, though you may have a better chance at the end of the day. Read more: London’s best flea markets Amiens is famous for its Hortillonnages, or floating market gardens (also worth a visit), so there’s a fair amount of garden equipment but good luck transporting iron implements or garden urns back to London. There are of course stalls with pictures, and here it’s pot luck; the quality was indifferent by the time we got there, but the early birds may have snapped up the unidentified treasures. It’s the entire randomness of the market that’s so charming and it’s not hard to feel that you’ve made good on your train and accommodation costs. To get there rail is simply the best option: take the Eurostar to Paris and then, a few platforms away at Gare du Nord, there’s regional rail to Amiens, a journey that takes about an hour and a half. I travelled with Trainline, which has an app for all the tickets, which is particularly handy when you’re making a rapid transfer from one train to the other. You could make the journey in a day: an early train from St Pancras gets you to Amiens by lunchtime, and so you’re good for the four or five hours before the market starts to close, around 4.30-5pm, with time for a bowl of cider and a ficelle, the local stuffed pancake, before returning to Paris for a late train back. If you’re making a weekend of it, arrive for the Friday or Saturday rather than staying on a Monday when Amiens, in common with many French towns, simply shuts for business. There’s a lot to see. The cathedral, which boasts the head of St John the Baptist (well, one of them), is twice as big as Notre Dame. There’s a fine provincial museum of Picardy, the first purpose-built museum in the country, which is rather splendid. The city is proud of its association with Jules Verne, a longtime resident, and fans of Around the World in Eighty Days can see the little study where the great man worked. There are some good food shops in Les Halles, and speciality shops in the centre such as Jean Trogneux, the family firm owned by Brigitte Macron’s brother, where you can buy the local honey macarons. For a place to crash try the Mercure Amiens Cathédrale (rooms from £125, book here), Moxy Amiens (from £80, book here) and Hôtel Le Prieuré (from £87, book here). The next Grande Réderie is in April but there’s an Advent market from the end of November.
