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