Did you know there is a market in France named after Caerphilly?
The weekly food market, held in the Breton town of Lannion every Sunday, is called “Marché de Caerphilly” – which translates as “Caerphilly Market”.
The market is held at Caerphilly Car Park, which gets its name from the twinning arrangement between Lannion and Caerphilly.
This car park was given its name in 2001 to celebrate ten years of twinning between the two towns.
On Sunday, December 6, 2009 – the first market was held with ten merchants. Fast forward more than a decade and there are now 18 sellers at the market.
The demand for a stall at Caerphilly Market is high, so people wanting to sell their goods at the market have to join a waiting list.
Fruits, vegetables, cheese, wine, oysters, whisky, cider, meat and even Asian food are on sale at the Caerphilly Market, with each merchant selling something different.
François Lemoigne, who has been an oyster farmer in the market since it first began, said: “Every so often, people ask me why the market is called ‘Caerphilly’ and I explain that is the name of the town which is twinned with Lannion.
“Thanks to this market, residents of Lannion know about Caerphilly. Before the market was first held, not many people here knew where it was located.”
As part of the twinning arrangement, which also sees Llanbradach linked with Ploubezre, near Lannion, visitors from Brittany are set to come to Caerphilly this summer as part of their bi-annual visit.
In return, members of the Caerphilly and District Twinning Association visit the French region – which has its own unique Celtic identity and language – every other year.