DISCOVERING: Belley | Sainte-Blaizine

Just as a heads-up: this entry will probably be updated over time. Most of the times, if we go to Belley, we only go there for shopping purposes, as it has the different and/or bigger supermarkets (or rather a "hypermarché"). So maybe check back after some time to see if there's any new stuff below. 🙂

Parking

The parking situation in the town centre is a bit confusing. The easiest parking (and for free!) will be here. From this parking lot it is about a 5 minute walk into the old city centre and usually (!) there are plenty of parking spaces. But be careful. There are basically two parking areas next to each other, but only one of them is for free. You will notice that it changes from one big parking space to one road with few parking spaces (also turns into a one-way road). That means you have gone to far. A bit further down, same road, same area, right in front of the post office, is another set of parking spaces which you can easily pay for. I believe it was 1h for 1€ and you get 30min for free by using an app called easyPark. I've only started using this app myself a few weeks ago. It's not the most comfortable to use (a wheel to set the time, rather than just typing it in... a bit silly) and other little bits and bobs... however... if you booked too much time you can stop the booking and any remaining time will be reimbursed. That is quite cool! So particularly for the Saturday market or quickly popping into the post office, this is quite handy. I've only parked once on the rest of the road and I think it was the same parking number. But be careful, from all the parking spaces (i.e. in front of the townhall/mairie) you also could suddenly end up on a private parking space, so always double-check for a sign with the parking area number on it and an easyPark Logo.

Town centre

I myself consider Belley a more commercial/industrial town, which probably isn't quite fair. Through-out my childhood we only ever went to Belley, if we wanted to head to the street market or for bigger shopping trips for things we couldn't get in our local supermarket(s).

When I was a little kid, the town centre was the most interesting bit for me. There were plenty of shops and particularly on market days, there were so so so many things to look at. Sadly, nowadays most shops have closed. It is nevertheless a cute little pedestrian road, interesting houses, some of them being renovated.

As mentioned before, not many shops have left. Only the other day my aunt wanted to go curtain shopping, a place that she has been many many times before. It has disappeared. She was happy to see, that the kids clothes shop was still there (a Petit Bateau for kids clothes) where she got our daughter the cutest outfit for her birthday. There's a bakery and a shoe shop. And then you will only find the odd little café, kebab shop or kiosk. Most other shops have disappeared completely, the houses are being renovated or have been converted into apartments. Insurances and property agents we found a couple as well.

Luckily my aunt was with us. She led us through one of the little quaint side-roads which had one of the last cobblers around. The road was quite adorable, but hard to reach due to streetworks. Also not that interesting to walk through (despite it having some sort of a cuteness factor). I suppose not many people will find it, unless you're from around there.

Cathedral

My aunt is quite religious, so of course she had to show us Belley's cathedral. We're not religious at all, and yet I have to say, it is a beautiful cathedral, also well maintained. I walked around and took some pictures when I noticed a service happening in a small part of the cathedral. I didn't think anything of it, tried to be quiet. And then when it finished and they tried to leave, I noticed that it was a group of school kids. It instantly reminded me of my time as a kid in Germany, when we went to church service for the school kids on a Wednesday morning.

The windows of the cathedral are amazing. They might not have the intrinsic designs as most other cathedrals. But the patterns and very vibrant colours are still very impressive. In some of the side wings the cathedral also shows off some massive oil portraits. So there is definitely something for the eye. Unfortunately it wasn't the best weather (when we wanted to walk out, it just kept chucking down), and the lights were switched off, so it was hard to see anything. If you can, go when it's sunny. You'll need the light. 🙂

Shopping

In terms of browsing, I would recommend the market in the pedestrian zone. Only recently we went again as we were nearby and it has gone much bigger then what I used to.

The Market

Nowadays the market starts right after the roundabout next to the post office, with fruit and vegetable stalls and the most amazing spice shop. Most spices we could get in London we found there. Also loads of olives and pickles and candied fruit (it tasted so amazing and I don't even like sweets that much). If you walk around the big fountain, you will find loads of lunch opportunities, from couscous and tagine dishes to roast chicken and a cheesemonger (you can smell it a mile away on a hot day). Once you're finished with this you can go down the main pedestrian road (same one I mentioned above) and you will find an african stall that sells the most beautiful black dolls and amazing colourful dresses for him or her and the kids. I wanted to get our daughter a colourful dress but she wasn't impressed. She's into Elsa-blue at the moment. Never mind... more vegetable and fruits stalls and one particular food stall that caught our eye: a cambodian kitchen. The smells literally dragged us to the stall (it did help that we were hungry). We do in particular like asian food so when we saw the options we couldn't hold back. It was quite late and the stalls were about to close, so the food wasn't hot anymore. That was no problem, we heated it up at home in a pan and it was absolutely delicious. I wasn't too much a fan of the battered shrimp (don't get me wrong, they were lovely!) since I prefer it crunchy, but they were more in a soft pastry. The spring rolls however were exactly my thing. We will definitely go back there.

The Roundabout surrounded by Shops

Otherwise most shopping seems to happen on the east side of around a big round-about on the other end of the town and in the ZI (Zone Industrielle).

Coming from the city centre, just before you enter the big round-about you will find a little commercial area to the right. First a Weldom (still on the main road) for DIY needs. Nice shop, friendly staff, but as it was converted from a factory (if my memory serves we well, I think it had a car parts factory in it?) you will find it very narrow and dark in there. Generally we are happy with the Weldom we have in Hauteville, our advantage is, that the building was purpose-built, disadvantage: some stuff is on the pricier side. Continue that road and you will pass a Gamm Vert, our preferred garden centre. Their flower and tree range is amazing, all plants are always in a good shape and well cared for. We mostly get our chicken feed there. The prices seem competitive in this regard, compared to the cat food that is massively overpriced. Our daughter loves this one in particular as it has a pet shop within the store as well. So she can't wait to look at the rabbits and hamsters and snakes and chinchillas and... parrots and the gecko.
And on the return (one-way road) you will pass a new DIY shop called BigMat. I personally am not a big fan. We were planning to buy a garden gate there that I saw on the website (choosing the right location and the stock will be shown) and when I got there the shop was tiny, the outside area was more construction items and the guy said they don't sell gates. When I insisted I found it on the website and the store in Belley had it in stock he looked at me like I'm a lunatic and said they didn't sell gates. They had a supplier and handed me a catalogue of expensive gates for luxury villas that I didn't want. Not keen on that one.

Getting to the round-about on the first exit you will basically get to the ZI part. There is a good electronics shop and household items shop, also a bit on the pricier side, but again, you can go in and actually see for yourself, rather than buying online. I recommend having a look (ProCie), the same owner also has a chimney shop right next door (Premillieu Chauffage) and they have a lovely choice. We bought our woodburner there during a sale. The guy who answers to emails is... not easy to deal with, assuming (!!!) that it's also the same guy at the reception in the shop, who can't be bothered approaching and offering any help. But the shop and the choice is amazing. We also use them as our chimney sweepers and very happy with that service.

The second exit is then a McDonald's (or McDo), which we had mixed experiences with. But mainly for us we'd go there because of Fresh!, an organic shop that also has loads of gluten-free items that are otherwise hard to get hold of in our area.

Next exit has a Litrimarché, another chain here in France, but we have to say we've become quite fond of their mattresses and duvets. The mattresses are very comfortable and easily compare with our expensive Simba mattress from London. And especially our winter duvets are light and still very warm and cozy, which is of course important for our little one. There is also a farmers market, which we have not been to yet, it's on our list.

Skip the next exit as it will lead you back to the other side of Belley but right after that one you will find a Carrefour Hypermarket (which I find rather expensive and filthy. We've seen spiders covering shelves with webs in the fresh area and a mouse running through the deli meat counters. Staff is not particularly friendly and uninterested. My aunt once wanted to buy a vacuum cleaner and as they didn't have the original vacuum cleaner bags, she asked if the Carrefour branded ones would work. The guy came, looked at the pack, said he didn't know, but he would "guess" so (!!!) and walked off. Needless to say we didn't buy them. But again, it has a good choice of items which we would otherwise not get in the local Carrefour.
The building itself has a few other shops as well, it's more or less like a small version of a shopping mall. Specs shop with an impressive choice, at least if you - like us - live in a provincial area with hardly anything around. There is a really good clothes shop as well, particularly for jeans, but I have to say, they do like their skinny jeans. I couldn't find anything that didn't make me look like a sausage roll. And then the usual suspects, like vape shops, key makers, phone case sellers, etc.

In the same area (not the same building) is a NordAuto if you ever need help with your car and I found them very helpful. We once rented a car and it got an error message that it required AdBlue and I obviously never heard of it, so the lady behind the counter was very patient and explained it to me and she told me to keep the invoice as I would be able to claim the money back from the car rental company. And she was right!
A sports clothing shop, I think they are German, called Sport2000. Very friendly staff and helpful, again prices above average. And we also often pop into Gémo, particularly if we need something for our daughter. Their prices are very competitive but again, it really depends what you need (does it have to be the latest trend?) and also whether you can wait for a sale.

Anyhow, you get the idea, a good place to get most your shopping done. IF... if you get around that roundabout. When I did my driving lessons... back then... 1875... it used to be a two-lane roundabout and now it's a one-lane. Well... I say that (or rather write that) but in the end, some follow the signage and use it as a one-lane, but I think there are still loads of people that know it as a two-lane roundabout (the size hasn't changed, just the markings are gone) and before you know it, there is a car next to you whilst you just tried to get out. It is an experience, that's for sure.