French produce market. By Paul Goldfinger. Click left for full view.
In many villages in France, there is market day once per week. That is a time when you can buy fresh produce, cheese, meats, breads, and many other food items. In some towns it is like a flea market. Market day is also a time to purchase unique specialties like foie gras. But the villagers also go shopping daily for whatever they need for that day.
They go to green grocers, as in this photograph, to buy whatever is in season. This merchant was unhappy with my taking his picture, but I caught him unawares before he spun around and gave me the evil eye. Fresh fruits and vegetables are characteristic components in the “Mediterranean diet.” Then, you sit at a cafe with coffee, French bread and fresh preserves. Skip those strong unfiltered Galloise cigarettes.
Then you go to your garret in Montmartre where you finish your latest painting or your novel in the style of Hemingway. If you are lucky, you can be in a Woody Allen movie and travel back in time to the Roaring Twenties where you get to chat with Picasso and Modigliani (with one of his long-necked models) in a lively bar on the left bank. (Be sure to see “Midnight in Paris” by Woody.) – Paul Goldfinger
SOUNDTRACK: Charles Trenet with some music to hear while walking around the market:
