Le bon marché !
From my visit to France in May...visiting the market in Melun is one of my most vivid memories. The colors, sounds, smells, tastes...almost overwhelming. Luckily I was with my friend Janet (at right) who really knew her way around and led me in a happy daze through the baroque excess of deliciousness, tasting an unfamiliar fruit here and sampling a strange cheese there. We ended up making a few mistakes despite Janet's expertise, somehow being presented with a kilo of fresh spinach when we asked for bananas (we were too embarrassed to point out our mistake to the beaming greengrocer) and being shouted at by the pork butchers, bulgy men flashing sharp knives, when we tried to sneak a shot of their astonishing display of all things pork. You could have set up their stall of pork products (which included whole skinned carcasses and artistic pyramids of snouts and tails) in a New York Gallery and called it Art, it was that amazing. But they were quite fierce about anyone taking shots of their artistic handiwork so we quickly left their vicinity, humming and trying to look all innocent "Do you hear someone shouting at us, Janet?" "Why no, Nancy, why would anyone be shouting at us? But let's go look at the honey shop now!" Lots of excitement and fun at le marché! Janet, I know you will miss it when you leave, especially those pork vendors! Au revoir!