It's That Time Again

Ok, so by far my favourite time of the week is the Sunday farmer's market along le Quai des Célestins.  If you've read my blog before today, you will recognize this market as the one that I first went to last Sunday to get some much needed veggies and fruits. Just a short walk from Place Bellecour (pictured at left).  Well, throughout the week as I stirred those veggies into wonderful omelettes, sandwiches, etc., I became more and more excited about the prospect of making the Sunday market shopping a tradition.  It's not just that the market has a certain French charm, but it is actually cheaper than the grocery store, and has fresher goods.  So, I went back this morning and, along with my anti-scurvy vegetable mix, took more pictures to share with you!  I also learned some new words & some new fruits, as you will soon see.  One of my favourite things about this particular market is that it is small, but varied.  There is literally something for everyone.  

There is also a variety of vendor characters from the gruff old woman yelling about her 2-for-1 sausage deals, to the slightly stressed but dashingly handsome cheese man.  Today, the market was bustling with people, far more than last week.  In fact, today seemed like an entirely new market.  There were a few of the same stalls that we saw the week before, but the market itself at least doubled in size.  Of course, last week the greater Lyon region experienced more snow than it had experienced in ages, so many of the vendors didn't make the trek into the city.  This Sunday, however, is sunny and bright.   

In fact, I decided to walk to Place Bellecour from my house today-- a first!  It only took me a half hour (and that was with looking at the map a few times).  upon reflection, I think that this may be the first sunny day I've seen since I got here over 2 weeks ago.  I've seen only little portions of the city separately, as I've travelled each day completely underground via subway.  While I'm now adept at the Lyon metro system, it gives you a strange viewpoint of the layout of the city. 

 In fact, I had no idea what to expect when walking from my house to Bellecour.  It was lovely!  On Sundays, the entire city shuts down.  While this can be an impediment from getting anything done, it's actually quite pleasant and lends itself well to strolls around the town.  There were plenty of folks out by the river taking walks (and jogs!) and bike rides.   This day may be a fluke when it comes to weather, but it's like a little glimpse of what is to come when winter turns to spring.  

 

The other difference I noticed today at the market was the willingness of the marchands (vendors) to really talk about their goods, give samples, and explain things to the confused foreign girls who had never heard of "un coing".  Heather & I stumbled upon a small table where a man was selling honey and some sort of fruit puree bar made out of coings.  Not caring whether I looked like a total idiot, I asked the man simply what a coing was.  He asked where I was from, and he said "you have them in the U.S., the U.S. has EVERYTHING!"  Ok, ok, thanks.  But not that helpful.  He went on to explain that they were like apples, but bigger, and yellow.  A pear?  No.  You can't eat them fresh.  You must cook them.  Ok, I'm sorry, but we do NOT have those.  Or, at least, not naturally.  Later on down the line, we actually found said un-pureed coings:

Yes, it's like an apple, except bigger, and yellow.  Thanks, dude!  Well, it turns out (upon requisite Google search), that a coing in English is a "quince."  Still no real recollection, and being from Tucson, a quince is a Mexican coming-of-age party.   If you're still curious, as I was, I found you the answer:  quince / coing

There were also French avocados bigger than your hand.  Seriously.  Those are avocados.  The guys selling these beasts were really proud of them, for clear reasons.  I was tempted to buy them, but I was running out of euros and hadn't yet purchased my cheese-of-the-week.  I'm starting to realize that I need to put some limits on myself here.  Sure, I could buy 10 different cheeses, each one better than the next.  But, I shouldn't.  And the thing is:  all of this will be here next week.  

And if the market today was this much better than the market a week ago, I can't imagine what it will be like once it really is spring, and things are in full effect!   The market has other things, aside from food.  Not that I care much about those.  But they do have beautiful plants and flowers, that would crush the competition at your local florist, and for half the price.  There are some weird things, too.  I mean, despite this being Lyon, there are some general rules I think that apply to all markets, world-wide.  

There are going to be the stalls for weirdos, by weirdos.  This stall wasn't really all that strange, but it was a little questionable.  It offered fresh tea leaf assortments that were meant to cure certain ailments.  This is also typically French; if you go into any pharmacy or any homeopathic place, you'll find a trillion different herbs or mixes that are for every and any "problem" you might have.  The picture at left is a tea that is meant to be, quite bluntly, for UTIs and Prostate health.  Not exactly the most charming of signs to have sticking into what otherwise seemed like a pretty mix of tea leaves, but hey- we're talking practical here.  I was almost tempted into getting some tea for skin care, as the amount of pure fat I've been ingesting over the past couple weeks has been less than great for my skin, but it was past my 2 Euro budget.  However, the next time I get frustrated by the fact that ALL of the local pharmacies around my house are closed down on Sundays, I will keep in mind that I can always go get some sort of tea to treat my any complaint.

Then there are the stalls that look low-budget, but are maybe the most attractive.  You know that these folks are really producing their products chez eux, and aren't some huge manufacturer with a "organic" label, the way I feel every time I shop of Whole Foods.  No, these are the people that create wine vinegar, and stick in Perrier bottles, load 'em in the family truck, and sell them as is at the market.  These are the products I want the most, but don't buy.  They are usually things that I wouldn't even know what to do with if I did buy them.  

Persimmons & Bundles of Cinnamon 

And with one "walk through" to check out the food and then a "walk back" to hit the stalls that called out to you along the first passing, the market is over.  I am there for over an hour, tasting, talking, marveling, and making the really tough decision between the chèvre and the camembert.  I allow myself one large bags of goods, a healthy variety of fruits, veggies, bread, and cheese, and maybe a few specialties like pecans and dried apricots for weekday snacks. I go home, unpack, fully satisfied.  In the back of my mind though, I'm already putting together next week's list!

La Basillique Notre Dame de Fourvière