Saturday Mornings

Someone asked me this week, "What is the best thing about having gone to Carcassonne?"  That's a hard question to answer, because it's a combination of offerings that make living here such a joy.  However, if I lost Saturday market, I would be very sad indeed.

Mushrooms, wine, walnuts from this morning's market

Sometimes I don't even have to make a purchase; it's enough to greet the vendors with whom I am developing a rapport.  When I got up this morning, it felt like a beef bourguignon day, so I had a mission.  I had none of the needed ingredients except for salt and pepper, garlic and onions.  I found the most beautiful mushrooms I have ever seen--three great huge ones for one Euro. I also bought some walnuts.  I have recently re-discovered the pleasure of cracking them.  I don't swear that they taste better than the already shelled ones.  I do swear that cracking them makes me slow down and appreciate them more. Into my shopping sac went  carrots, burgundy wine, and of course, from Michel, the beef.  His shop is always the last stop on my circuit, as I can make the meat my last purchase, and am only a dozen steps away from my front door and my refrigerator.  Today they didn't have the "correct" cut out on display, but fear not, he went into the back and apparently killed a steer or cut the needed meat from a side of beef.  He brought it in on a fierce-looking meathook, slapped it on the block and cut me a piece to my specifications.  They were quite busy, but even so, found time to chat with me and the other customers while they worked.  I find that true of all the vendors at the market.  They have time to talk to me, even with my limited French.  It's more about making a customer than a sale.  

Lovely flowers and fresh produce

I also wanted to see what things I could buy at the market to send back to the States as gifts.  Sending foodstuffs would be like sending a little of the land to my friends.  Maybe by tasting they could smell the earth, and plants and flowers and the sun....and really, does anyone need a made-in-China-color-changing keychain of the Tour d-Eiffel?  Trying to figure out what foodstuffs will clear US Customs takes some time.  I would so love to send some of these wonderful vegetables, or some Chantclair apples, but I don't think they'll make the cut.  I think candy and pastries are okay, but I suspect by the time a bag of fresh croissants made its way to Oregon, the bread would not present a good representation of the boulanger's artistry.  Even so, I think I was fairly successful in finding gifts that say "Carcassonne," and not, "Made in China."

1 Euro's worth of mushrooms!

It's raining here, intermittently.  What a good day to stay inside, read, write, maybe nap!  I did most of my household chores yesterday, so my environment is tidy and serene.  I will get the beef stew underway and then I will read the paper and putter.  It's no longer Saturday morning; rather it's now afternoon.  Lunch time!

Some of this morning's bounty