September – it had rained in the middle of the week…perfect conditions for mushrooms. We met @richardbarley and family for the ritual mushroom hunt and failed once again…but we did see lots of frogs and came home with a basket full of pears and tomatoes from Lisa’s back garden.Lovely day!
My saturday ritual to La Rochelle ‘s buoyant market leads me straight to my goat man.
A very proud man whose collection of goat cheese becomes a magnet for the likes of people like me . The queue does not direct you away… au contraire I take my place in the line…while I am waiting I listen to the ongoing conversation and taste the fresh piece of baguette overloaded in an inviting white coat. It is 9am , my mouth only just flushed by strong coffee, I am now indulging in an overwhelming dry and bitter goat gem.
Ahead of me stands a little girl, she is a serious goat cheese predator…her mouth would have been previously flushed by Nesquick ( all the french children drink hot chocolate in the morning, the chocolate mustache is indeed a trademark) .
She is diving eagerly in the dish. “hum…” “Daddy is it for my birthday?” ” are you buying it for my birthday tomorrow?”
This 10 year old is genuinely excited and needs confirmation that the cheese her dad is buying will be used for her day…
Today I had a thought for that little girl gathered with her family around an amazing cheese board…
After a week away the house was empty. By empty I mean no food. Scanning the fridge and cupboard in the hope to find something remotely edible was …well, challenging.
I was lucky enough to gather enough grains for a fresh coffee and grabbed my basket.
How I love getting amongst the crowd! A mix of tourists ( oh look at these tomatoes! they actually smell like tomatoes!…how marvellous!!!), elderlies, tramps, students, housewives, sick leavers, unemployed, nutters ( literally straight out of asylum) and because it is summer, the odd music band.
This morning could have been a scene straight out of Amelie!
As I was waiting for my turn in various queues I learnt 3 things.
First was with this old lady who was telling me that she did not have the time to wait:” how dares that woman buy so much fruits!” she kept looking towards me and Ananas obviously expecting me to reply something like : “yeah I know, buying so many fruits on a fruit stall! It is really outrageous !!!… doesn’t she care how busy we are?!”
But I did not deliver and she went off in disgust. I do wonder how busy her life is and was surprised by my own patience…but I have to say the nectarine did look so juicy!
Then in an another queue…cucumber one I think.This 5.8″ goddess who did look a bit shaky shared her love life with well all of us waiting including the old folks behind. “Yes…5 years together totally thrown away…I am in pieces”
The poor girl…she nearly got me sobbing…
I am thinking about that gorgeous girl,she must be in a bad way for wanting to share it on a market stall. As I walk past my friendly olive man, Ananas stops and she won’t move until I buy olives. Here we discuss the inflation of the market, he is not impressed this morning: ” 18 euros for a kilo of handmade crisps that’s taking the piss!..I tell you what they have to be bloody good at that price!”
While paying I am so grateful his prices have not changed.
So this morning while shopping I learnt that:
