Le marchée

I've decided that in addition to my "peur du jour"s I'm going to mix in some cultural lessons for everyone!

 Cultural Lesson #1: French Markets

Today's lesson is (as the title indicates) about French markets (pronounced mar-SHAY). Since I don't drink coffee and try not to blow my budget on French pastries and wine, going to the market is the thing I do that makes me feel the most French. Every Saturday morning I get up early (for a Saturday in France) to go to le marchée des arceux (the market that is under the arches of the aqueduct). Because I live in centre-ville and the market is just outside of the main part of town, I get to observe the activity in Montpellier during my 15 minute walk.

La place de la comédie

I always see something noteworthy while walking through the place de la comédie (the heart of town). This morning I heard a fanfare (I'll probably do a cultural lesson about this later) playing. Other times there will be protests, street performers, and other colorful manifestations of human activity (like the gypsy petting zoo). While walking through le jardin de Peyrou, I'm usually always harangued by someone trying to get me to sign something or give them money. You'd think that, as a university student, I would be used to this and would be skilled at avoiding interaction with these people. However, I've found that people who want something from you are a lot more aggressive in France. One time a gypsie girl saw me from across the park and made a beeline for me. She was only about 10 or 11, so I wasn't too concerned. But as I said "merci" and stuck my hand out like a stop sign (I learned from my Northern friends that this is a very French thing to do), she latched on to my elbow and would not let go. I literally had to shake her off. I felt bad because she was so young, but at the same time, it's definitely NOT okay to physically interact with someone like that...

Jardin de Peyrou (beware of gypsie girls!)

Now to the fun part! The market! I've already talked about the market in Arles (which is the biggest of it's kind in France, or at least in the South of France). Montpellier's Saturday market may be smaller, but it's of no lesser quality! Every time, I wander to the same stand at the opposite end of the market to buy apples and carrots for the week.

Under these arches, the vendors set up their stands!

During this journey, one thing I love to do is close my eyes and guess which stands I'm passing (I can ALWAYS guess the olives). In my head I'm always drafting detailed descriptions (and sometimes even poetry) of what I'm experiencing, so today I decided to stop to note some of the things that I find the most striking. I always marvel at the seas of olives whose scent I drown in, the chickens whose necks and clawed feet still dangle from their bodies and the rabbits whose eyes watch over the passersby, the piles of fresh, crusty bread, miles of fresh cheese pressed with rosemary and thyme, a rainbow of homemade jams, yards of sausage in curled heaps, burlap sacks brimming with dried herbs and spices, hills of lettuce and radishes, apples in every color, crates upon crates of pears and oranges, row after row of strawberry cartons, pyramids of fresh farm eggs, succulent pastries and cakes heaped with chocolate and fruit, a jungle of fresh-cut and potted flowers, canopies of scarves and cloth, and beaches of jewelry that glitter in the sunlight.

And the people are usually just as interesting. There is always the Arab man with his cart selling mint tea, a man playing the ukulele, puppeteers with marionettes, and a number of people soliciting religious and political causes.

Now, markets are a huge cultural thing for a lot of reasons. The first reason being that food is life in France. Meals are less about "nourishing" as we tend to think of them in America and more about "sharing" and "enjoying." I tend a be a I-eat-what-is-put-in-front-of-me type of person. But my host mother always talks about how you shouldn't eat something unless it really brings you pleasure to eat it (I agree to a certain extent, but I don't think she's ever had to eat dining hall food). But in seeing food differently, I think the French take a lot more pride in buying the best ingredients (which of course come from the markets and not the SUPERmarkets). Of course, I know this exists in the US as well (the best corn in the world is sold at the Grayslake farmer's market... yum!), but it's just such a part of mainstream culture here.

Another reason that markets are culturally significant is that they are such a smorgasbord (had to use spell check for that word) of regionally distinct products. I've tried to buy only local products while in France (I figure that I can eat Brazilian bananas in the United States) which is easy to do at the markets. There are all sorts of French,  Mediterranean, and middle eastern (which really is a part of the culture here) specialties. I like to taste the different olives and cookies and breads; I'll even occasionally buy something for lunch from the market (my eye is on the paella for next time!). Not only is each stand brimming with edible cultural manifestations, but also each vendor is brimming with knowledge. When the market's not very busy (which is not often now that le grand froid is over), I love to talk to the vendors about their food! They're so proud of what they do and are always happy to share knowledge with a bright-eyed bushy-tailed American student.

Markets are one thing I'm really going to miss about France!

Small wonders

1. The big burly African French man who pushes his twin daughters in a stroller every morning and evening all the while singing to them in French

2. The vendors at the market under the aqueduct who are willing to teach me about every French food under the sun and give me tastes of everything.

3. How it can rainy and cloudy in all of France except for the small strip in the South where Montpellier is (a little bit like this).

4. Beret-clad, French elderly couples holding hands.

5. That, with the important exception of milk, nearly everything tastes better in France (case in point: for the first time in my life, I like mushrooms).

6. When tram operators and bus drivers are truly kind and wait longer than they should so that someone can make the tram/bus.

7. The way the town smells like fresh bread and coffee in the morning as the cafés and boulangeries open their doors.

8. Jazz flute and upright bass duets on la Rue de la loge

9. Hearing the person who lives above me play the piano every day when they get home from work.

10. Realizing that there are some things that are impossible to translate.

My week in Provence

Okay, so basically I've been procrastinating with a blog post because I have no idea where to begin. Should I talk about fears? Funny stories? Life changing moments? My many firsts? A blow-by-blow account of the whole trip?

I've decided to share with you some of the biggest lessons I've pulled away from my first solo (as in without the company or planning of any "adults") journey in Europe (or anywhere for that matter).


1. I'm going to get the mushy gushy things out of the way and send a huge shout out to my travel buddies. I think we got each other through a lot of sticky situations, made each other laugh, and just soaked up everything good about France together.

Our first day in Avignon was miserably cold and windy, but that didn't stop us from profiting from the city! Two thumbs up for positivity. (Avignon, France)

Missing your train and having to pay out the ear for a slower, later train is pretty sucky. But here we are with smiles on our faces! (Marseille, France)

Lesson # 1: Things definitely don't go as planned, but you just have to rant about it, laugh about it, and push through.

2.  I feel like all of my senses came alive for the first time on this trip. My nose detected the scent of blackberry in red wine and the hints of jasmine from the perfume capital of the world (Grasse, France). My ears delighted the sound the Mediterranean waves make as they pull back against the rocky beach--like the crackling of fireworks or the popping of a campfire. My tongue swam around in all sorts of wine as I went on my first vineyard tour and lavished in the sweet and savory specialties that I explored. My skin rejoiced in the French sunlight, the smooth pebbles that cover the beach in Nice and Eze-sur-mer, and the salty feeling of sea water as it dries and mixes with your sweat as you hike back from the sea into the mountains. Sight is the only sense with which I can indulge you:

Une papaline (like "pape" the French word for Pope), the candy of Avignon. It is a ball of chocolate with Oregano liquor on the inside. (Avignon, France)

Enjoying a glass of rosé in the town where it was first made in France (Tavel, France)

Orange trees at the International Museum of Perfume (Grasse, France)

The beach on a peaceful, mid-morning walk (Nice, France)

Bouquets of Lavender, a flower associated with Provence, at the largest Fruit and Flower market in France (Nice, France)

Some incredibly fresh fish at the Fruit and Flower Market (Nice, France)

Lesson #2: Appreciate every taste and sense and smell. Think about all of the work and passion that is behind a bottle of wine or perfume, a piece of chocolate, a silken scarf. Appreciate the God-created world around you. 

3.  This trip also just reminded me how important it is to enjoy life. I have a tendency to get caught up in checklists and deadlines, but I am making so many efforts in France to savor the world around me (see lesson #2). One thing I'm realizing is that God doesn't just give us the bare minimum, he provides for us in abundance. I have an abundance of love, laughter, and joy in my life, and I praise God for it every day!

Dancing on le Pont d'Avignon (Avignon, France)

Goofing around at the TGV station (Avignon, France)

Candid shot of some French people shooting us with silly string as we were taking a picture (Carnaval @ Nice, France)

Lesson #3: Live your life. Love your life. 



PS) If you'd like a blow-by-blow account of my trip, try looking at the blogs of my other friends. I thought I would use this space to reflect on the bigger picture of my trip (because, of course, I took copious notes in my journal each day). Maggie and Michelle had pretty detailed accounts (note: Michelle's name has two links associated with it). We didn't do all of the same things, but still shared a lot of experiences!

PPS) Also, one of my friends wrote an article for her university's newspaper about carnaval!

Make a wish in Arles and Saintes-Maries-de-la-mer

Peur du jour: 21 Janvier 2012- Eating lots of new French things

Yesterday I went on a day trip to Arles and Saintes-Marie-De-La-Mer (can we just talk about how I saw the Mediterranean sea for the first time in my life and I loved it and it was just as beautiful as I had ever dreamed it would be?). Arles is a town full of Roman Ruins, a beautiful market, and was an area in which Van Gough painted many of his works. Arles is also the town where I fell in love with French food.

My first encounter with the food in Arles was at the enormous market where they had everything from produce and olives,

Des courges muscads (a pumpkin like gourd)

 to exotic spices and honey,

Easily my favorite stand-- it's so nice to see and smell such beautiful spices!

 to baked confections and mounds of baguettes,

The Famous French Macarons

to sausages, cheeses, and different cuts of meat.

Unidentified animal leg-- any guesses?

 I tried many samples (olives, cheese, bread, macarons, sausage, honey) and even learned from an olive vendor that when one tries a new food, one is supposed to make a wish. I made so many wishes in Arles!

For lunch, I had my first traditional French meal since being here.  Our tour guide Jean-Paul invited those who were so inclined to join him to déjeuner at his favorite restaurant in Arles L'escaladou to experience la cuisine Provençale. I decided that the time had arrived to have a meal worth more than my normal under-one-euro-American-style-sandwhich (which remained isolated in my lunch bag all day).  Dining with a native (Jean-Paul is Occitan) really enhanced the cultural experience! A friend and I shared our meals so we got to try a lot of different things:

 Les Escargots de la Mer

La soupe du possoin: fish soup with crusty bread topped with Rouille (saffron and mayonaise) and Parmesan cheese
(Photo Credit to Maggie Grossman!)

Le Lapin aux herbes provençales: Rabbit with provencial herbs (this sauce was so good!)

La Boeuf Guardian: a traditional dish made with beef from the bulls which are raised in the Camargue (the delta region of the Rhone River) , olives, and rice which is grown in the Camargue

Photo Credit: Michelle Lewis

Ile Flottant: Crème Anglaise topped with meringue (whipped egg whites)- really very good

 Nougat Glace: a sort of ice cream dish with honey and whipped cream

 As you can see, I am going quite hungry in France. We all left the restaurant with stupid grins on our faces. Trying new foods that you immensely enjoy is just such a metaphor for life (it's about to get cheesy).  In a broader sense, I realize that there is so much out there in the world that I haven't even discovered and which will bring me immense joy (people, places, cultures, vocations, ministries). It's a really liberating experience and I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to experience so many new things.



One of my wishes came true (I'll keep you posted on the others):