Les Marchés

Part of what we enjoy about Paris are the outdoor markets or les marchés.  We stumble upon them all the time.  Sometimes they are selling food and clothing.  Other times they are called Brocantes and they sell antiques and collectibles.  One metro stop down from us is the rue de Grenelle where they have a marché under the elevated subway every Wednesday with food and clothing, including underwear and stockings! 

Undies Stall

Stockings for Sale

Kate and I checked the market out after shopping at les Soldes last week.  Below is a sampling of some of the food stalls we found there.



There were several stalls selling fish.  They had all kinds of fish from shrimp to whole fish including the eyes.  I'm sure each shopper has her favorite poissonnerie she visits each week.

Poissonnerie

Dried Fruit and Nuts

My favorite was the egg seller.  Even eggs seem a little different in France.  The shells are thicker than in the US and harder to crack.  Inevitably I end up with a piece of shell in whatever I am baking.  And the shells are usually brown, although this stand had a lot of white eggs, too.

Les Œufs

The sign above says these eggs are from chickens raised outdoors--I guess you would say free-range chickens.  And according to the sign below, the eggs are "extra fresh."

Œufs "Extra Frais"

Thirty of those big white eggs cost 4.50€.  At the current exchange rate of about $1.30 for 1€, that's about $2.35 per dozen. 

The market went along for several blocks.  At the end of le marché was a man selling honey from the Bourgogne or the Burgundy region of France.

Marché de Miel

Those were all the pictures Kate allowed me to take.  We'll check out more markets later and post our finds.  The students are arriving today-we can't wait!