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17 May 2010

Je Mange, Tu Manges, Tout le Monde Mange



There is a market in any direction at least once every day of the week. We were counseled to go to the St. Cyprien market as it was self-contained in a single street. Jason wheeled the car up onto the sidewalk (we are quickly learning to follow no traffic rules at all..sorry, we learned this from other drivers!)and we piled out in our usual hurricane manner, drawing stares from the get go. The market was so...French. It had everything you could possibly want: cheese, pastries, olives, fresh fish and seafood, live rabbits, dead ducks, miles of sausage, fresh fruits and vegetables, clothes, shopping bags (must break own and get one of these!!!).



I managed to order a few bags of vegetables from one vendor and then quickly add an apple at the end, except that I asked for a potato, instead. Sorry, kids! This was our first market and it was a combination of anxiety (keeping an eye on everyone, giving steel trap autonomy to the older kids (an oxymoron..just in case) and of wonder, as we are seeing so many incredibly good things to eat. I mean, I got to choose how thick I wanted my bacon sliced! Mossy ordered shrimp and later, at home, he carried one around (they are au natural, meaning with heads, antennae, etc) calling it his friend until his father took the head off and made him eat it. Ah, life, so short, so brutal.



We have eaten more bread than ever. A boulangerie is located a respectable few meters from the Gite and we have given them our money everyday. We ran through Sarlat on our way to Lascaux today and peeled off in front of another to collect a pain de campagne and jam filled cookies, whose name I've forgotten. These habits extend to crepes, which were filled with sugared strawberries and fed to children with thick slices of thick cut bacon and pepper jack omelette (left-over Merc cheese) this morning before departure.



We descended on the hypermarche (think Target) at the end of our adventures and spent an ungodly amount of money. But really, bottles of wine under $5, chevre for $2.50, chorizo for 1, 75...this is organic! I believe we eat like the French at home and that's why we have no more money after the Merc, but here, we can eat like French and pay like Americans (thank you Greece for totally screwing up the EU and making our trip significantly more valuable!!!) Anyway, it's hard to stop when you think you're getting an unbelievable deal on everything, or maybe you want to use the vegetable scale one more time (you push a pic of the veggie and it spits out a price tag and if you haven't done this you are sent back from the check out line to do so with a withering stare from the clerk). Eggs, I must say, are horrifically expensive.



We managed to stumble home and fix espresso with super thick cream and a sugar cube, while Ruby fixed a 6pm tea and cookies for everyone and get ready to launch into dinner preparations: onion, red pepper and zucchini risotto with sausage from St. Cyprien, fresh greens, baguette (of course) and a bottle of Cahors (which was also consumed by R&H, quite the grownups..it was .5 inches of wine!) We have a picture somewhere but..hmm. I can't find it.

There is more to tell..like how to answer the following:

What do you do when your kid has to pee inside Lascaux cave?

but it is late and I have to go to bed before I just decide to load just one more picture....

4 comments:

  1. Please, please, please load just one more picture next time. I cannot get enough. And, I want to see some of Jason and of the inside of your place. Please?!?

    I loved this evening's installment. Maybe it's because I love food and I love shopping. I laughed out loud on many occasions. Loved the picture compositions. Who is taking the photos? Can you please give a little credit line to each pic?

    Please tell Jason I finally watched "2 Days in Paris" and LOVED it. It's the kind of movie I could buy and watch many times. The dialogue is quickly paced and there is so much witty banter and funny episodes. Adam Goldberg is my new favorite.

    Looking forward to tomorrow's reading. P.S. What day do you guys move on? Can you write me an email with your internal French itinerary?

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  2. My turn to read tonight, butchering French throughout... But capturing the spirit of your words, I hope. All this lovely food makes a girl hungry...and poppa relishes the pics of the kidlets (as do I). Thank you for writing...I read mossy's friend's fate aloud twice and we laughed each time!

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  3. Bravo all -
    Great writing! Great pics!

    Thanks so much for sharing!!

    : )

    simply awesome.

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