Maybe your first experience of Provence is the local market
place ... that is. once you have found out where they are
and on what day they are held.
Your first aim should be to get there as early as possible in the morning,
find a good café in the sun, ( If it's not too hot ) and enjoy a fresh croissant
and café crême... for the hardened locals it will be a glass of Rosé
or a Pastis. ( No matter what time of day it is )
In Lourmarin ( Friday's ) it's Café Gaby or Café de l' Ormeau.
Claim your seat, visit the boulangerie to purchase your pain au chocolat
then get back to some serious ' people watching ' which seems to be
the order of the day,
or maybe just sit and endeavopur to read ' La Provence ' failing that,
buy the ' Times ' and complete the crossword ... again !
The year starts off with freshly picked strawberries, followed by juicy
cherries, apricots, peaches, Cavaillon melons, figs and of course the most
amazing tomatoes you have ever tasted.
The list is endless , but I want to add
just a few more to give that extra flavour of Provence...
We still have the world famous Fromages de Chevre,
the finest goats cheese you could ever wish to taste along with a
multitude of others besides, and not forgetting the famous Saucisson
and Pastis taken before a meal to stimulate the appetite !! h'mm
The market place is a constant buzz of every language you can
think of, along with smells, fragrance's , aroma's bouquet's or balms
including lavender, thyme , rosemary, and basil.
You can taste the tapenades of black and green olives, figs, sundried
tomatoes, this list really ' is ' unending.
Phew ..... I want to go on,
but this was only meant to give you a snap shot of Provence
I think to end this little appetiser we should do it with the
clink of wineglasses, the rich smell of coffee and the sounds of
street singers that encapsulate this amazing region called
Provence.
