At the Bagnols-sur-Cèze market, “the spirit is not too festive”

Fabien, the soap maker from Bagnols, shares: “Honestly, since the post-Covid period, purchasing power has been down. The average basket has decreased. Even for gifts.” Midi Libre – C. C.

De la bonne humeur avec “A la belle époque”, le bonheur des enfants ! Midi Libre – C. C.

It was the last big market of the year this Wednesday, December 18 in Bagnols. 

“We feel even less Christmas than in other years…” This is a testimony given by several traders, this Wednesday, December 18, the morning of the last weekly market of 2024 in Bagnols, a week before Christmas (no market on December 25 and January 1). We can't say that it was the crowd of the big days, despite the mild weather. On boulevard Lacombe, Marc, from Laudun, and his beautiful bamboo watches, has been scouring the markets for forty years. “The spirit is not too festive with everything that is happening. From year to year, we feel less and less of the festive spirit”, he concedes. Gloominess confirmed on the side of the soap maker of Bagnols, one of the many faithful of this meeting with a thousand colors and flavors. Fabien shares: “There is no atmosphere. People are not in good spirits. Honestly, since the post-Covid, purchasing power has been down. The average basket has decreased. Even for gifts.” Bernadette, one of her customers, confirms: “I can see it when I do my shopping…Everything has doubled.” A few meters away, there is Pierre who sells jewelry and stones: “Look, it's quiet. It's social misery. People don't come to buy Christmas presents, they go to the big stores.”

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More traffic for the food industry

The food trades have more traffic: Dominique, surrounded by a group of friends, has worked well, he sells sausages from Haute-Loire and Ardèche. Place Pierre-Boulot, there is Corinne who has been coming for three years with her stand Les olives de Coco. “Customers are already preparing their Christmas shopping because there is no market for two weeks. It's bad timing for us but we console ourselves by saying that next year, the 24th and 31st will fall on a Wednesday.” Her specialty: olives, tapenades, anchovies, candied fruit. “The average basket is €15 per person. This is a little lower than last year. In Villeneuve-lès-Avignon and Rochefort-du-Gard, the average basket is higher.”
David, the market gardener of “Tamalou”, present (with his father at the beginning) for decades, feels at home here. “It took a long time to get going this morning. Yesterday in Vaison-la-Romaine, I didn't work at all. Now, I'm happy.” Jeannot did his shopping with his wife, he says about his favorite market gardener: “He's an extraordinary guy.” And how does he see the year about to end? “We have a government of c…, I'm sorry but it's true. And people are becoming c…”

 

“Beautiful victuals and a precious place for connections”

Bernard and Belem are preparing for the end of the year, and for them, the market remains the place where “we find beautiful victuals, a place of sharing, a precious place for connections. Crossing the market is ensuring that you meet beautiful people”. Patrick, who with Karine and “Les Arômes de Provence”, has been a regular for twenty-four years at the Bagnols and Pont-Saint-Esprit markets, selling herbal teas and aromatic plants, testifies: “People are very reserved, with the policy that is being proposed to us, there is worry, it makes them cautious and we understand them, he analyzes. This morning, there were even several people who did not want me to wish them “Happy Holidays”.”
Place Mallet, Olivier des Ruches Amielh, in Tresques, describes his morning: “We feel that we are off-center from the market. But overall, we had a good year” thanks in particular to orders from companies that offer baskets to their employees. His neighbor, Alain's, customers bought small gifts for their caregiver or their nurse. He says he is satisfied, he has worked well!
The small market on boulevard Lacombe will be in place on Tuesday, December 24.

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