Market Day

Let's just get this out of the way.  I love market day.  I really love it.

The first one we experienced was under the guidance of Philippe our host, and at the time, there were just four of us to go.  He took us to a little village called Isle sur la Sorgue, and then patiently led us through the maze of vendors.  The route was determined in part by the many canals that characterize the village.  We went over small bridges and on one, Philippe pointed out that it is the route for an annual boat race.  However, all the people in the boats have to actually lie down to get under the bridge itself...an interesting manoeuvre because on the other side of the bridge are little rapids that they must also get safely through.  Good timing is necessary to be successful.

The German in the family was immediately drawn to the sausage vendors.  Sausage is taken very seriously in Provence, and there are hundreds of varieties.  While there are flavours added from herbs and nuts, there are no fillers. Flavour, not filler.  Don't you think that North America could learn something from that?  I on the other hand was fascinated by the huge cheese wheels and the incredible bowls of olives and tapenades.  And then, there was the awesome array of herbs and spices.

Also at the market, colours, colours and more colours.  The typical Provencal tablecloth fabrics were laid out in rows, just waiting for someone with a serger and the ability to sew a straight line (that would so not be me, by the way).  Vendors selling scarves would flirt with me (that was fun) and some of them were beautiful (and expensive....sixty euros).    There were kids clothes.  There were ceramics.  There were umbrellas and flowers.  It was vibrant and that made me feel oh so alive.

In Isles sur la Sorgue, I loved the canals.  In Aix-en-Provence, it was the art market, in Arles it was everything.  There, we bought a picnic lunch of some finger sized sausages, amazing cheese, fabulous bread and a half bottle of wine.  We sat and ate it near the coliseum and it was lovely indeed.  On the way to Colmar, we stopped at another little market, and we bought candied nuts, apple cider, and lemon drops.  I petted a goat (so cute) and did a little jig (very little) with the local band.

Market days are the best.  I wish we had them here, but maybe I wouldn't appreciate them so much if we did.