Me at the Market

So, there is a pretty cool market in Beauvais every Wednesday and Saturday from early morning until about 3.  I go often because it's fun and because I don't work on Wednesdays or Saturdays.  It is in a big square downtown, around a five minute walk from my building.  Half of the market is food goods and beautiful flowers and the other half is everything else including clothes, shoes, jewelry, kitchen utensils, doilies, etc.

In case you were wondering, this is me at the market:

I usually get there between late morning/ early afternoon.  I always start on the food side.  I like to go down the aisles and look at all the different stuff.  I check out the numerous fruit/veggie stands and sometimes I switch it up, but usually it is the same stand that I go to.  It is big & really clean and some of the fruits & veggies look fake because they are so perfect -- the cherry tomatoes I got there a few weeks ago were absolute ART.  Today, I got 7 clementines, some brussels sprouts that I am going to saute, maybe tomorrow?, an avocado and a nice looking zucchini.  Then, I asked the lady what this weird looking huge, light green vegetable was and she told me it was a hybrid cauliflower/broccoli.  Crazy!  So, then I usually continue on and go to the bread man, where I like to buy something whole wheat, sometimes with herbs de provence (fennel, basil, thyme, lavender, etc).  After that, I usually check out the cheese display cases, avoiding the raw meat display at all costs because it's frightening.  I usually get around 10 "Bonjour Mademoiselle!" 's during all of this.  Occasionally, I go to the stand where they roast chicken and potatoes and buy a piece to eat for lunch, because it's delicious and only 2 euros.  Then, I mull around the other half of the market, where I have bought random things like a bottle opener, bed sheets & earrings.  The best part of this side is this nice guy selling hair clips.  One of the first days I was here, a bunch of us American girls were together, and he picked up on it.  He said "Ohhhh, Americans- are you from New York?"  Then several times after that he would say "HELLLOOOoooo" to me, he clearly loves speaking English.  One day, I was looking at one sweet black hair clip and I asked him how much it was, he said "For you- free!".  I said thank you very much and said that he can practice his English with me a little every week from then on. :-)