French Markets


With my straw basket firmly in hand His Lordship and I hit the food market in Carcassonne early yesterday. We were immediately assailed by the colourful displays of fruit, flowers and vegetables. Throngs of people patiently queued alongside delectable piles of red peppers, courgettes, french beans, large juicy blood red oranges sliced to sample. A jolly red and white checked stall carefully stacked with saucisson of every variety, alongside a stall giving out the strong aroma of cheeses drifting on the warm air. Bunches of the first local Asparagus from the Aude packed in wooden crates, tiny loose lettuce leaves all perky and fresh just begging to be placed in a bag and taken home and dived into with a slight sprinkle of olive oil. I lost His Lordship after five minutes but I was engrossed by the sights and smells assailing me and got carried away by the bustle.

The bright vibrant bunches of mimosa with their unmistakable scent striking to the eye suddenly draw me towards the flower stall. There are bunches of stocks, gypsophila, freesia's, tiny bunches of narcissus heralding the arrival of spring. Pots of hycinths and tiny African violets bloom. The faces of pansies waver gently in the breeze, bold colours of purple, blues and yellow.

In the distance I spy His Lordship, face lit up with excitement and triumph holding aloft a bunch just for me.

But wait, it's a bunch of carrots he's holding up into the air.

Nobody could accuse the carrot of not being a seductive vegetable which my photograph clearly shows.

Comments

Ah now your weather we can't do - nor the flowers - but I have a similar bunch of carrots, including the green bits, in my fridge . . . which is only slightly less chilled than the outdoors here . . . brrrrrr
Elizabethd said…
Not quite up to your weather yet in our markets in Brittany! But the old faithfuls are wonderful, especialy our fish stall, which has only fish caught from his boat. You never know what there will be, but it is always so fresh.
Pondside said…
You make me want to throw everything over and hop on a plane for France and a tour of those markets! The smells, the sounds, the colours - you make it come alive!
Cait O'Connor said…
Colourful carrots!
Oh I love the French markets so, they are heaven on earth for sensualists (is that a word or have I just invented it?).
Merci beaucoup Sally for brightening our Sunday.
groaning here ...I want to go back to a French market NOW! Love 'em couldnt believe my eyes ...birds in cages , a couple of calves tied to the rail and a basketful of puppies.....wanted to buy everything!
groaning here ...I want to go back to a French market NOW! Love 'em couldnt believe my eyes ...birds in cages , a couple of calves tied to the rail and a basketful of puppies.....wanted to buy everything!
Grouse said…
It would be worth a trip just to enjoy the wealth of local foods not inhibited by the ridiculous censorship that inhibits food production in the UK
Grouse said…
It would be worth a trip just to enjoy the wealth of local foods not inhibited by the ridiculous censorship that inhibits food production in the UK
Milla said…
Great that romance isn't dead!
lampworkbeader said…
MMM! Just lovely. French vegetables are so enticing.
Le-Chat said…
I don't know the south west very well, I've been there only once in my teens, all the better for the south east, where the BF is from. Though not so far south, I'm talking the south lower Alps area close to Italy. Love, love, love the market of Chambery... And ah, you mentioned saucisson... This so called 'vegetarian' forgets her beliefs for a few days when the SIL sends a few over!
muddyboots said…
views, food, flowers, carrots. sally your life is such a brightly coloured picture!

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