Today is Market Day

- by Grace

Today (Saturday), is market day. So far, this is my favorite French experience.

This morning I was the first person dressed and ready to go to the market.  Anthon was asking for some breakfast and my dad asked Emmeline and I to go outside into the market to buy some strawberries.  We came back with soap, a baguette, and strawberries. I bought the soap for my mom because I love her, and because last week we smelled this soap and my mom said that it was really good. We bought a baguette because we always buy a baguette in the morning and I wanted to have a fresh baguette for breakfast.  While we were in the market we saw two bakeries, three meat stands, five cheese stands, three fruit stands, two vegetable stands, a honey cart, a mushroom cart, a noodle stand selling Thai food, a big seafood stand, a wine table, and a soap guy.

Cheese

Scharman at the cheese stand

Local Vin (wine)

Erik Olson discussing salami and sausage

Olson boys at the charterie (butcher) stand

We bought sausage and proscuitto from this butcher

Bins of lettuce, carrots, beets, and starter vegetable plants

George loves the market

After we came back I went back out with George and bought him a banana.  When you want to buy something you speak in french to them to tell them what you want, they wrap it up and then you give them your money and they give you change. If there are people already at the stand you have to get into a line and they slowly walk along the front of the stand until you are next to be helped.  We also bought some roasted pig for our lunch, some apples, nectarines, apricots, four loaves of bread, a big cheesecake (we did not like this because it did not taste good, it was not sweet at all, and we were disappointed) some wedges of cheese, prosciutto slices, jambon pate', cherrie tomatoes, raspberries, some wine for cooking our roast back home, and salami.

Beautiful, yet disappointing cheesecake

Walking around the stands is fun. You can smell all the food as you walk by the different stands. It reminded me of our vacation to the outer banks in North Carolina when we walked by the seafood stand. We saw the Olsons at the market, with their whole family.  I wanted to buy a grapefruit, but I didn't have enough euros.  When Emme and I bought the soap and strawberries we waited for a woman who was paying for her strawberries with lots of small coins.  When we paid for our soap and strawberries the man just handed us the handful of small coins as change (rather than a larger coin or bills, we were bothered).  I also bought a lemon for George, because the limes cost too much; they were 1.31 euros, but the lemons were only 0.38 euros.  I didn't know how to say "lemon" in french so I just pointed to the lemons and said "un".  I had to return to get another "un" lemon for Anthon after he saw the one I bought for George.

Anthon spending time with Emme, and enjoying his lemon wedge

Soap, strawberries, local honey... and Anthon

Good smelling seafood stand

At the goat cheese stand the lady cut up pieces of goat cheese and let everyone in my family try a piece of the cheese and she threw it into our bag for free. The cheese was very good. Goat cheese is my favorite.

The goat cheese lady

Some things were gross; rabbits' eyes and teeth were left on the skinned rabbits.   Duck's heads were left on the birds on the counters, the heads of the ducks (and the other birds) are left on so you will not be confused about which kind of bird you are buying.

Anthon pointing at rabbit teeth

Scharman loved the jambon pate'

After you buy your stuff they hand it to you in a little bag, so we carried large bags with us and when we had too much to carry we went to our townhouse and dropped off the bags and went back to the market for more.  The people from the town either carried suitcase type carriers or baskets, but mostly baskets on wheels.  One man was carrying around his items in an old orange box.

Locals on their way to the market (note the basket)

During the week the market square is a boring parking lot, on Saturdays it is very exciting.