Les Halles (Market Halls), Tours

On the Place Gaston-Paillhou in the Tours old town there is something that looks like a white steamship liner with many windows. On the ground floor are two banks, a press house, a perfumery, frozen foods, bakeries, butchers, delis, dairies, fruit & vegetable stalls, a wine cellar and caterers. The top floor has offices and studios.

This is Tours Market Halls, sometimes called the "Belly of Tours." In 1866 Gustave Guerin produced pavilions of metallic architecture modeled after the work of Victor Baltard on the Halles of Paris.

The location chosen for Market Halls was the Place d'Aumont, today called the Gaston-Paillhou Square. Two churches, Saint-Martin collegiate church and Saint-Clement were razed to make room for the expanding market.

For 150 years the Market Halls have been the gastronomic center of Tours. There is an underground parking but (spoiler alert) there may not be toilets.