Every Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday we have a morning market in front of Notre Dame. I often felt like I was benefiting the most from my time here in France when I was on my way to our little market. Vendors have tables and tables set up of everything you could need for good, fresh, healthy cuisine. And the prices generally beat those at the grocery store too. The fruits and vegetables are bright, vivid colors, the produce is smooth and scathe free. There’s always a man who sells soups in jars who sometimes gives free samples. There’s always a woman with macaroons and local cakes; the shortbread-like broyé of Poitou has to be beat with one’s fist to break it up into manageable pieces. We always have two or three stands selling flowers, and when I’m feeling fancy I indulge in a bright mixed bouquet from the countryside. There are of course a few stands selling bread, but none of them beat our Délisses de Poitou baker just down the street from my apartment. We have paté, cheese (brie is our favorite, unless you count local chèvre chaud), eggs, saucisson of any kind of meat (which I have begun to take a liking to, especially considering how wary I was at the beginning of the year), more kinds of meat than I could ever care for: pork, rabbit, chicken, lamb, beef you can ask the butcher to grind for you right there. The list goes on. My brother and I usually stuck to the basics: lots of fruit and veggies, some eggs (which don’t come by the dozen), and sometimes a broyé for him or some flowers for me. When we knew we were going to go all out, I would bring my chariot like a real local so we could get it all home and up our million flights of stairs to our unairconditioned apartment. Everyone is always so friendly and helpful. You just point to or pick up what you want to buy, hand it to the person working the stand, they weigh it and print up a receit. On the other side of Notre Dame, we also had a non-produce section of our market, which included antique trinkets, books, sometimes furniture, porcelain, or musical instruments. There was never any shortage of interesting things to see at the market!
No comments:
Post a Comment