The French Market

Usually you will find a recipe here on Fridays.  However, I have something really special to share with you today that involves food.  One of the things I love to do when traveling is go to the local market.  The smells, colors, sounds, people, and food combine to create the perfect sensory overload.  The very best of the markets is always in Paris, and the very best of the Paris markets sets up near where I stay in the Marais.

You can imagine how excited I was to have a copy of Clotilde Dusoulier’s The French Market Cookbook waiting for me when I returned from Paris this month.  It is stuffed full of recipes that use fresh ingredients that are available in the markets of Paris and in the groceries in the USA.  Divided into seasons, it provides just the kinds of recipes I like to cook – light on the meat and heavy on the veggies.  Plus, the photos are great!!  Now, come along and see what I spied on a Sunday morning at the French market.

I felt so sorry for these poor lobsters.  R.I.P., lobsters.

There were plenty of fresh clams for one of my faves, New England clam chowder.

There were flowers that were potted. 

Yum!!!

There were plenty of peppers. The shoppers were very diverse, and so there were so many interesting food choices for their ethnic dishes.

More flowers, and these look like fall.

I love artichokes.

Olives.  Oh, la, la!!!

Can you believe how gorgeous these veggies are?

I sure wanted to bring some of these baskets home.

Something that always fits into my luggage, though, is wooden spoons.

I buy a bunch of wooden spoons from this man every year.  We always have some conversation – very slowly because my French is not so great – and agree to rendezvous again next year.  His spoons are the best wooden spoons ever and only two euros each.

There are always some musicians scattered around trying to make a buck euro.

And there are people who think they are making music but AREN’T.  I have seen this couple at several sites around Paris, and the screeches coming from those instruments sound as if a two-year-old is playing them.  Ouch!!

There are also some artists sketching the scenery.  I love the color of her shoes.

And I can count on seeing a gazillion dogs.

I always get inspired going to the market in Paris, and now that I have my new book, I have a double-dose of inspiration.  I’m going to go to some cooking.  Have a great week-end.

Take care.

The French Market was provided by publishers Clarkson Potter, but the opinions are my own.