Le Bon Marché

As part of my marché series, had to share something funny with you today. Long while ago I wrote down I had to visit something called Le Bon Marché. I forgot what it was because I only put the address down in my moleskin (which I love, it’s my best friend in Paris). I happened to be in the neighbour and decided to check it out.

Bon marché in French means cheap, or a good deal. Ya know, like a bargain buy. So I go there expecting to find a run down market maybe with some cheap food or cheap winter clothes I can buy (perfect). Plus I desperately needed to use the bathroom (those of you who know me well…) and they’re hard to find in Paris! So I walk around looking for the store. Only to find…hahah

 

it was filled with anything but items bon marché.

At this point, I laughed. I realised I’d been punned. Le Bon Marché, might mean cheap in French, but a literal translation also means the good market. As in, a good shopping mall, in this case. Haha, a cute little malentendu (misunderstanding) ou double sens (double meaning, curiously the French don’t use the expression, double entendre, meaning a double, often sexual, connotation/meaning, even though they are French words). Anyway, I happily used the clean bathrooms (love that about high end department stores) and went away thinking about the rest of my life.

 

You’re in for a treat: Aux Marchés

Sorry I know I know! It’s been forever and you’re dying to read. Well finally I got the time and the pictures to show you. It’s been a busy few weeks. La grève (the strikes/protests) are still happening and there’s still problems with the métro (surprise, surprise). But I promise I’ll be sending many more updates to catch you up on my adventures.

In the mean time, you can have a mouth watering look at all the beautiful foods I get to experience, sometimes on a daily basis thanks to the French love of outdoor markets. Some of these places are indoors, but the majority are outdoor markets the Parisians attend religiously in order to get their fresh produce. You see, kitchens in Parisian apartments are small and food must be fresh, so they shop a few times a week, only buying enough for one or two days each time (well there are those weekly supermarket shoppers, but we’ll pretend they don’t exist).

Anyway enough reading, let’s get to it! Yum yum. (Besides, my English is deteriorating quickly (and yet the French isn’t getting much better), so it’s a bit of a struggle for me to write as much. Which is perfect for you right?)

 

CANDYLAND

Um what can make me happier than seeing lollies (candy, if you’re American)? Eating candy of course! Haha but at this point I’m satisfied with the eye-blogging range. I ❤ Haribo. It’s amazing. Enuf said, yum yum.

Look at the huge smile on my face.

That’s the smile of somebody who had too much candy as a kid.

A little surprise from the BUTCHERY

Voilà it’s boudin, also known as a blood sausage. It’s sausage made from pig blood. Supposed to be great source of iron! Kind of looks like you know what though, so I just tried not to think about it. I tried it 2 times (gasp, I know I used to be a vegetarian, then I went to France…). It’s really good when spicy. Just don’t stare too long. Not as bad as Andouille (a French specialty, it’s an intestine sausage made from a lot of offal – meaning it looks and stinks like merde – oh and it tastes like it too, one of the most awful smelly things I’ve ever had – worse than Camembert du lait cru (smelly cheese made from raw milk) in Normandie). Speaking of cheese…

CHEESE

Yum, don’t that look tasty?

All the different varieties…

This, I just had to take a photo cos I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much mould on a cheese that it is black coloured. Well bon appétit!

FRUITS and VEGETABLES

The fruit and vegetables here are out of this world. You don’t need to buy organic. Just anything fresh at the market is a taste sensation. I’m in love with all the varieties of mushrooms here, often wild. Shame the cost me an arm and a leg. But so delicious.

And everything is so good that I’m even willing to eat it raw, as in salads.

Mouth watering juicy fruits, and…..yum

Frozen Foods At one point we went to Picard which is a supermarket that ONLY has frozen foods. Can you imagine? Ppl give Americans a hard time about eating frozen meals. But the French have an entire supermarket dedicated to these frozen meals and other cold goodies. Like herbs…

FROZEN HERBS

Or ice cream and lasagna. Basically anything you want 🙂 There was the normal stuff, frozen apple pie, frozen veggies, chicken…but then there’s the weirder (but cool) stuff, frozen gucamole & salsa, frog legs, herbs..

Marché IENA

A view from the street market closest to my house. What cosy company, right? You can stroll leisurely down, look at the products according to your own pace and chat to the vendors. When it gets very busy though, be prepared to rub shoulders with your neighbours. Just make sure you don’t lose your wallet in the process!

FLOWERS

So beautiful. They’re some of the freshest and most beautiful flowers. Paris has 2 famous flower markets. This was just an ordinary vendor at a store, so I’ve yet to go. But I’m sure they’d be goregous. It’s cheaper to buy from a market than a store. And just as beautiful.

SEAFOOD

Yum yum yum. Love shrimp. The fish is very appealing. Always. I’ve almost never smelt the “fishy” smell or ammonia smell which means they’re all very fresh. But this was a bit disgusting…

At least I didn’t show you the photo of the half-skinned rabbit :p