Tag Archives: Calvados

Monday Market in Rural France

One of the joys in living in Europe is the quality of markets — no, not supermarkets (and those are frequently quite delightful, too!) — regional weekly markets where the products are straight from the fields or cheesemaker or butcher or fishmonger into your shopping basket. AND they are picturesque as well!

Here are a few scenes from our Monday market inside and outside the medieval market hall in Saint-Pierre-sur-Dives in Calvados, Normandy, France. Enjoy!

Fruit & veg at Monday Market.

Fruit & veg including HUGE sacks of carrots at the Monday Market.

Market vendors outside the medieval hall.

Market vendors outside the medieval hall.

Feathered friends and pretty plants.

Feathered friends and pretty plants.

Shopping baskets (yes -- I'm going to buy a new one!) and flowering plants.

Shopping baskets (yes — I’m going to buy a new one!) and flowering plants.

And finally — the clothing on offer may not be to our taste — but someone must want it!

A variety of clothing is sold at the Monday market.

A variety of clothing is sold at the Monday market.

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From AU to the UK to the EU in 5 weeks!

I’m tired just thinking about it — but we have gone from Australia to the UK to France in the very short space of 5 weeks. Seriously — whew!

We don’t bounce back energy-wise as fast as we did 20+ years ago — so we were well into Week 2 in England at Mark’s parents’ house before we started to shed SOME of the jet-lag. But even when we first arrived in France in the 3rd week of November, we were still exhausted.

Once we had the shopping and car insurance and ferry reservations and so forth sorted out, we drove in the wind and rain to Portsmouth to take the night ferry to Caen. I had booked a cabin so we could get some sleep, but the staff hadn’t finished cleaning the rooms when we arrived, so we ended up getting very few hours of shut-eye.

Waiting in a long and very slow line to board the ferry.

Waiting in a long and very slow line to board the ferry.

Waiting for our cabin to be cleaned in the blue-light disco.

Waiting for our cabin to be cleaned in the blue-light disco.

Arriving in France, we drove through persistent rain towards Caen and then south to the town of Saint-Pierre-sur-Dives and onward to the nearby village where we will be living for the next several months as Mark does a large renovation project.

The house was built over several centuries — but the oldest section is from the 1400s. And the part we are living in — the red brick section — is from the 1800s. We even have a resident mouser named (badly!) Caramel who SHOULD be named Rocky because he’s such a sturdy bruiser of a cat. However (ahem!) — he has now adopted Mark and he follows him around like a puppy. So much for the cat’s stand-offish reputation!

The Normandy renovation project.

The Normandy renovation project.

Mark inside the renovation project.

Mark inside the renovation project.

Mark's new playmate -- the cat in residence.

Mark’s new playmate — the cat in residence.

The town of Saint-Pierre-sur-Dives is quite stunning and given the fact that they were occupied by the German army during World War II — a remarkable amount of truly old and lovely buildings are intact.

Every Monday morning, there is a large local market that takes place both inside the medieval market hall (another post about that coming soon!) and in the nearby street and huge parking lot. The range of fresh produce, cheese, wine, meat, seafood, and more was a wonderful surprise.

The packed Monday market in Saint-Pierre-sur-Dives.

The packed Monday market in Saint-Pierre-sur-Dives.

Inside the historic medieval market hall at Saint-Pierre-sur-Dives.

Inside the historic medieval market hall at Saint-Pierre-sur-Dives.

Rooflines show the overlapping time periods of the town.

Rooflines show the overlapping time periods of the town.

Leaning against a wall of the cloister, a statue awaits restoration of the abbey in Saint-Pierre-sur-Dives.

Leaning against a wall of the cloister, a statue awaits restoration of the abbey in Saint-Pierre-sur-Dives.

And finally — a hello from our next door neighbours on ALL sides — the lovely cows of Normandy. I’ll be back with more slices of life-in-France in the next few days. Enjoy!

The pretty cows in the fields next door.

The pretty cows in the fields next door.

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Choucroute Soiree in Normandy, France

Posh food? Not really. Sophisticated music? Not really. An entire Friday night of fun in France? Absolutely!

We’ve met some lovely people as we’ve travelled through France this year and those include our friends Marian and her husband Fred in the Calvados region of Normandy. A few weeks ago we were invited along to a village ‘do’ in Sept-Vents and Marian told us to expect a lively evening. She certainly wasn’t exaggerating.

The food was choucroute, a French version of sauerkraut and pork with potatoes — and along with the starters, wine, and dessert, it was quite a hearty meal and well worth the €15 per person since there was entertainment to follow. The picture below is of my own plate after I had smeared the tops of the sausages with a punchy Dijon mustard.
 

Choucroute dinner at a soiree in Sept-Vents, Calvados in Normandy, France


 
Almost everyone at our table spoke only French, but they were charming to us and Marian translated when necessary. The highlight of the evening arrived rather late though and it was well after 9 PM when the musicians finally began to play. What a surprise was in store.
 

Marian and Fred at the Choucroute Soiree in Sept-Vents, Calvados in Normandy, France


 
Country music — Billy Ray Cyrus “Achey-Breaky-Heart” style American country music — and the hundreds of people there all seemed to know the words by heart! Slowly at first and then gaining pace, people rose from the tables and flowed onto the dance floor to do the Texas Two Step, the Boot Scoot Boogie, or plain old line dancing.
 

American style country line dancing in the French countryside of Normandy


 
We were flabbergasted at finding this hard-core group of country music enthusiasts in rural Normandy, but then again, these were all country folks — farmers and truck drivers and people who worked in tiny village shops. I guess for some people country music transcends national boundaries.

Next we heard Celtic music coming from the stage and the country dancing morphed into Celtic circle dancing. From young to old, the floor was packed with smiling faces. And didn’t they let their hair down and dance, dance, dance the night away. From new-style country music and movement to old-world traditional country songs and dancing, it was an evening that we will never forget.
 

Celtic circle dancing at a Choucroute Soiree in Normandy, France


 
Even if you are travelling in a country where you have little ability to speak the local language, I’d like to gently suggest that you try to get past your anxiety about the language barrier and go out with the locals as you travel overseas. You’ll soon see how friendly and welcoming people can be, especially in the smaller towns and villages where a smiling face and some hand gestures along with a lot of please and thank you in the local dialect can get you a very long way.
 
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Rest and Recovery

Breathe in — breathe out — dream of the day when there will be no pain.

That’s where I am right now — a week after our race to the hospital — still on the mend from kidney stones. Ouch!

Thought you might enjoy a picture of something simple — one of the windows on the front of this charming house in France.

Back soon (I hope)!
 

Window of a stone gite in Calvados, Normandy, France


 
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©Deborah Harmes and ©A Wanderful Life
Please respect the words and images on this page.
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