The covered market of Nancy is a handsome iron-and-glass hall south of Place Stanislas, dating from the 19th century. It is the best place in the city to shop for local produce: Lorraine cheeses, quiche lorraine in its original form (which is lighter and more eggy than the British interpretation), mirabelle plum products, and the celebrated bergamot-flavoured sweets called bergamotes de Nancy that you'll find nowhere else.
The market is busiest on Saturday mornings, when outdoor stalls extend into the surrounding streets. It closes on Mondays. Even if you are not shopping, it is worth walking through for the smell and the atmosphere — the vendors tend to be local producers rather than wholesale distributors, and the quality is noticeably higher than in the supermarkets.