Market Days

Mmmm, delicious olives of every variety..

A large wheel of cheese? Yes, please!

As I said earlier, everyone eats fresh here, so naturally there are local markets to full the void. These roving markets happen every morning in a different location everyday. There are familiar faces at each one: the friendly but ancient lady selling girolles found in her backyard, the olive man with his bowls after bowls of delicious salty delicacies, or the family of goat cheese farmers selling the fresh rounds (or cabécous) of cheese from the back of their van.

Tom and I visited the market at St Cyprien today, a popular Sunday destination for locals and tourists alike, (though we made the tourist mistake of arriving at 11; locals have come and gone by 9:30), as everything in rural France is either closed or shuts down at 12:30 on the day of Rest. This market is one of the bigger ones, with the entire main street shut down and filled to capacity with people selling anything from tablecloths to truffles, or giving away kittens (which was very hard to pass up!). It's so lovely to be able to walk down the street and buy your produce from the vendor directly, seeing the pride they have in their products, and know what you're eating is the result of hard work and dedication. The only problem is I can't seem to resist any of the stalls, so we end up leaving with bags of unnecessary (but delicious) goodies.

And speaking of delicious goodies, check out the dessert we had yesterday from Lucco's, the BEST bakery I have ever been to, also found in St Cyprien, an unfortunately short drive away:

These fabulous delights are an incredible hybrid of eclairs and profiteroles. Aptly named 'Religieuses', they are heavenly. Tom and I are going back to the bakery as soon as they open on Tuesday!