Goodies from the market
I’ve just got back from a morning at our local market. I say “local” but it’s reckoned to be the third largest/busiest in south west France. Both buyers and sellers travel hours to get here, even thugh it’s a small country town in the middle of France profonde.
The sun is out, the ramparts are looking martial and the place is packed. Even more so inside the vast market hall. You only make very slow progress along the aisles.
French markets are a bit of a cliché perhaps, but the meat, fresh and charcuterie, and vegetables are shining, the bread is crusty and mouthwatering and that’s not even mentioning the cheese, dried fruit, honey, olives and so on. You know who the best traiteurs are from the queues in front of the counters…
Outside you can buy every household item you’d ever want – handbags, mattresses, flowers, front gates, upholstered chairs – and clothes, glitzy fashion boots. Then you can munch on every sort of local takeaway specialities.
And of course, there’s the atmosphere – householders, farmers, artisan producers, meeting old friends, relatives and that cousin who only emerges once a year. News and gossips are exchanged, lunch set up, coffee and cake arranged… Ah, la belle France!
Have you heard the one about…?
Legs? We’ve got them covered
My favourite! The houseware van
And don’t forget your mattress!
Alison Morton is the author of Roma Nova thrillers – INCEPTIO, PERFIDITAS, SUCCESSIO, AURELIA, INSURRECTIO and RETALIO. CARINA, a novella, and ROMA NOVA EXTRA, a collection of short stories, are now available. Audiobooks are available for four of the series. NEXUS, an Aurelia Mitela novella, is now out.
Find out more about Roma Nova, its origins, stories and heroines… Download ‘Welcome to Roma Nova’, a FREE eBook, as a thank you gift when you sign up to Alison’s monthly email newsletter. You’ll also be first to know about Roma Nova news and book progress before everybody else, and take part in giveaways.
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