Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Things I Love About France...#5

Open-Air Markets


The town we live in has an open-air market every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday morning. Matthew and I love to go to the market on Saturday mornings. In Chamalieres, there are usually the same vendors each week. There are even some vendors that seem to remember us from week to week (it is probably my horrible French that they remember!). Even though the vendors are usually the same, there is always something new on display to try. The produce is so fresh and beautiful!


And the flowers! They are so beautiful, and usually pretty inexpensive.


Our market isn't a very big one, but there is a bigger one on Sunday mornings in a nearby town, Aubiere. They have a lady that makes this gigantic pot of paella every Sunday morning, and it is delicious!

One thing to remember if you ever find yourself at a French market: always let the vendor pick out your produce for you. Matthew has a colleague who actually had his hand slapped when he started to squeeze peaches to find ones that were ripe. This is a big no-no! You can tell the vendor when you want to eat the item, and they will pick out the perfect fruit or vegetables for you.

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