To market, to market, to buy a fresh bun,
Home again, home again, market is done.”
I hope you don’t mind if I write a bit more about food. The markets are spectacular, with such variety of color, texture and aroma. But making an actual purchase can be a bit daunting. For instance, in French, how do you ask for a certain quantity of something: half a loaf of bread, 2 slices of ham, a small wedge of cheese, a handful of green beans, a piece of quiche, a head of lettuce, 2 carrots, fresh pasta to serve 2? It’s easy to point to the food item desired and hold up some fingers, but quite another to really know how much to ask for. But we’re learning, and next Wednesday we will be accompanied to another market by a tutor from the language school (we start lessons Tuesday). I will take lots of notes so maybe some of my pointing and muttering will transform into some real language!
The market culture seems to reuse things, so less is thrown away. We now need to remember to take our egg cartons with us, else we have to pay a small amount to get one for the eggs we purchase. The yogurt booth will fill your previously used container (haven’t seen much Tupperware), and you can buy milk that is poured from the barrel into your own milk bottle.
Among the many things we purchased at the market Saturday was a rotisserie chicken cooked over potatoes roasted in such a way that the hot drippings from the chicken basted the potatoes. We will cook the carcass to make broth, adding some of the drippings provided by vendor (after fat skimmed off). It’s gonna be the best chicken broth ever!
S
undried tomatoes and garlic marinated in herbs found their way into our shopping bag. Perfect topping for bread, eggs, or steamed broccoli. Then there was the locally-made yogurt, the fresh eggs, ravioli, strawberries, apples, and cheese. A large slice of ham and some rustic bread rounded out the day’s market run.
Fortunately we are walking enough miles (kilometers) a day to help burn off all this delicious food … we hope.
Carmen
2 Sep 2014I feel like I’m living the French life! I love the actual pictures of the foods and the detail information on how much to purchase. I never thought about that, I would have just said 1/2 pound of this or a container of that, amazing how those little things we take for granted here can create stress on our overwhelming brain 🙂
I love the smaller details of everyday living, not just the tourist kind of stuff. Thank you so much for sharing with us, thank you for letting us experience in some small way life in France.
Chris
2 Sep 2014\8^)
Cathi
3 Sep 2014Carmen says it well. The nuances in your words & photos linger here at the Florida “Cattle Crossing”. ~!~
Wayne Mackay
2 Sep 2014Sounds like you are making great progress on fitting into the life.
Chris
2 Sep 2014We have merely “seen” the tip of the iceberg. Just hoping our little ship can avoid collisions!
Patti
1 Sep 2014So pleased for the two of you! How perfectly is all your planning coming together?? Enjoy , dear ones! Much love sent your way! Patti
Evy Snyder
31 Aug 2014I only see slim people in the photos, you need not worry!
Sounds like perfectly healthy food, not loaded with preservatives and sugars.
Debi
31 Aug 2014The descriptions are wonderful. Thank you for the vicarious adventure.