Bonjour and Happy (belated) Bastille Day! I had a lovely and very French Bastille Day. As I mentioned in Monday’s post, having French coffee is a great way to celebrate this occasion – so that’s just what I did! Before work, I stopped off at a local coffee shop and ordered a café au lait. It was delicious, but rather steamy. So hot in fact, I burned my tongue – ouch!
Every Wednesday, there is a Farmer’s Market near my office that is open from 7 AM – 1 PM. Since I had a little extra time before work – even after my coffee stop – I popped over to the outdoor market. I loved seeing all of the vendors chatting with customers and one another. It was like peering through the window of someone’s family reunion. As for the produce, it was amazing! So colorful and very fresh as is expected at a Farmer’s Market…
I did not end up buying any fruits or vegetables, although I was very tempted to buy the little patty pan squashes – they were just adorable, if a vegetable can even be described that way. I did end up spending quite a bit of time at the cheese table – la fromage. They had so many cheeses to peruse – from hard to soft, from stinky to non, etc. For obvious reasons I associate cheese with France. So, in honor of Bastille Day, I asked the cheese seller to slice me off a small chunk of asiago for breakfast. He didn’t even seem a bit surprised. The asiago was absolutely perfect and made me want to come back next week for more.
Aside from the cheese, I couldn’t believe how many non-produce items there were. The market had gourmet chocolates (definitely going back for those!), honey, baked goods, clothes/jewelry, jams and other jarred items, and, of course, FLOWERS!!!
The flowers were huge, with brilliant colors, and looked freshly picked that morning. I also felt they were very inexpensive – no wonder the French/Europeans buy so many of their flowers at markets like these. They are way cheaper than buying them in a grocery store.
So what was my favorite thing about the Farmer’s Market? You may think I’m a little old-school, but my favorite part was looking at all of the chalkboard signs with hand-written names and prices.
With all of the technology advances in the world today, I’m glad to see that Farmers’ Markets are still holding to their roots. The markets still have their old-world charm – and for that, I am very thankful.
