Montdidier Réderie (June)

Montdidier, the Picardy city of Parmentier

Montdidier is a sub-prefecture of the south of the Somme, hometown of Antoine Parmentier, the famous pharmacist and agronomist who popularized the potato in France in the 18th century. The town, which has about 6,000 inhabitants, was almost totally destroyed during the First World War and rebuilt in the interwar period: its architecture reflects this particular history, with characteristic Art Deco and neo-Picardy buildings. Each year, the city organizes several réderies, including the June one which attracts an important audience.

A major Picardy réderie

With its 150 private exhibitors, the June Montdidier réderie ranks among the good events in the south of the Somme. Set up in front of the village hall, the event benefits from a spacious and well-equipped space to comfortably accommodate exhibitors and visitors. The urban dimension of the event, led by the city, distinguishes it from village flea markets: you find more structured organization and a more diversified audience, coming from Montdidier but also from Roye, Amiens or Compiègne.

What you can find

The 150 private exhibitors offer a wide range of objects: old dishware, household linen, clothes for the whole family, old and new toys, books, comics, vinyl records, CDs, cassettes, DVDs, small furniture and furniture to be restored, tools, various trinkets, decorative items, childcare objects, board games. The volume of exhibitors guarantees great diversity, and attentive bargain hunters can regularly find beautiful pieces — particularly objects related to local history, old postcards of Montdidier before the destructions, photos and documents from the Great War period.

Montdidier and the Santerre

Beyond the réderie, Montdidier deserves a stroll in its streets. The monument to Dr Parmentier, the Saint-Pierre church rebuilt after the war, the municipal museum (local heritage and Parmentier), the bastion promenade offer good reasons for a visit. Montdidier is also an ideal starting point to discover the southern Santerre, vast cereal plain with preserved villages, and push towards the memorial sites of the nearby Somme front. A pleasant stopover city for bargain hunter-tourists.