Marche

Despite the Tramantane blowing the marché was open as vendors of food, clothes, jewelry and household goods set up.

Our first stop was Mille et une for breakfast. They had just remodeled allowing for more local jams, honey, cookies products to be displayed on the shelves. A cookie/biscuit table was in the middle, with gloves and bags to pick and choose. It reminded me of the special shop in the walled city of Carcassonne.

The new arrangement of chairs will make for comfy conversations with friends over tea, coffee or hot chocolate, because now is the hot chocolate season.

Rick and I were discussing the word cocoa in comparison to hot chocolate or chocolate chaud. Somehow to us cocoa seems the most appealing even if they are made identically.

We ordered our demi pullet, roasted on a spit next to La Noisette. The smell of roasting chicken carries all the way to our flat a block away.

Swiss chard, tomatoes were on our shopping list as we passed the tables.

Although we stopped at the brownie lady, we still had some from last week, but two pieces of apple tart were destined for our afternoon tea.

Our final destination was a café sit with friends who will be leaving all too soon. Other friends drifted in both locals and from Ireland for the school holiday and we talked about Catalan independence among other varied topics. L’Hostalet is a bit of weather miracle. In the summer heat, it can be the coolest place in the village yet on a day like today it was sheltered from the wind.

 There were new singers to entertain us.

The church bells rang at noon. The bangs and scrapes of the vendors closing down echoed across the square.

We said goodbyes and headed home to eat our chicken and veggies grateful that we have an alternative to cold impersonal supermarkets.