When tourists visit Europe, one of the favorite activities is going to the market filling the town squares with luscious fruit that looked as if they were plucked from Eve’s garden, vegetables freshly dug from the earth , whole milk and cream squeezed from the dairy cow that morning.
Like everything in France, there is a savoir faire to open market shopping, an unspoken etiquette for waiting in haphazard lines that the locals would never breech for fear of a tongue lashing by their neighbors. As an American, I never understood the rules and was always overtaken by jumping little old ladies far more savvy. Forget the la crème fraiche; I’d be stuck waiting till the dairy cows came home! Same with bargaining. Social interaction at the market is a delicate interchange. Nor was I clear on the amounts measured in metrics. I order fruit and vegetables by number rather than kilo. How many cherries make a half-kilo? Nor was I fast on my feet counting out change and hold up the line waiting while I fumbled counting coins.
a farmer's stand
French open markets are a must see; however, visitors beware, street markets are not for the faint hearted. Shopping at a French open market is like trying to play a sport without knowing the rules. Here are few tips.
1. Bartering – friendly bantering over quality, quantity and price. Must be a native speaker to understand the peasants accents and expressions. Also helps if you understand metric system.
2. Etiquette – who’s turn? Lines as Americans know them, do not exist. Instead waiting in line the « queue », (also the French word for tail) has no end, or beginning. First come first serve rule does not apply- line cutting is also a fine art. Elderly French women, with years of practice, are very clever about this. Only a native speaker understands the innuendos to put someone in their place politely. Youth loses every time. Old ladies are best at this.
3. Choice – if indecisive like me, impossible to pick which item. Only medical students could positively identify animals body parts on display. We aren’t just talking liver, kidney, intestines. Noooo, French enjoy spinal column, pigs feet, tail, cows tongue, brain, etc.
Each part of France displays regional specialties. For example in Normandy, in addition to charcuterie, butcher, cheese stand, peasants sell « bootleg » calvados and cider pressed from the orchard. I once counted over twenty varieties of olives. How can anybody survive working the open markets only selling olives ?
pouring fresh cream
4. Pasteurized in France has different meaning. It does not mean sterilized, what it means is animal rights- freedom to grow up out in the pasture. Cow’s organic milk straight from the field to farmers bucket to market. Free range chicken. Wild hare, quail, and turkey.
5. Fish should still be flapping. In seaports, boats dock at the quay and sell fish caught that night.
fishermen sell their fresh catch on the quays
6. Don’t be discouraged if you find that the produce in your basket does not look quite as nice as that on the stand.
7. Best trick is to take a native along. If someone who regularly goes to market, the better.
In Normandy, the Parisian weekenders throng the marketplace elbow to elbow. My husband, now a foreigner living in Switzerland, would never be served without his mom. A loyal client at the same stands for forty years, she knows generations of farmers who sell their wares locally. Since she is so loyal, they would never think of giving her soured creamed or bruised fruit meant only for tourists, for she would be the first to elicit shame with her sharp tongue.
Customer loyalty is at a premium in open market where regulars will always get the best cut of meat, ripest melons and freshest fish. Just as referees always favor the home-team, merchants favor the hometown loyalty.
I loved this article, Pat. It brings back memories. I once did a scavenger hunt for one of my birthday celebrations in which my guests had to locate the cheese man at the Ferney-Voltaire market and receive their next clue. I thought that would give the regulars to the market an advantage as they would know exactly where he sets up shop every Saturday – right next to town hall. It really is a jovial place to visit. This market also sold housewares, clothing, and snacks. It had almost a carnival feel to it.
Oh Tinie,
Only you could dream up such an idea…scavenger hunt at the local French market! When you retire from your International Family in Transition biz, you could become a party planner!
Patty,
Another delightful trip, this time through a French open market. I’m loving these weekly sojourns! I smiled through the entire piece as I related your list to the farmer’s market my husband,Wayne sells fresh starter plants at through June. For years, he hauled vegetables,herbs and flowers grown on our 4-acre garden but he has scaled back. Indeed, it’s the old ladies who know the ropes and get the attention. He’s had a few tongue lashings himself over the years (mostly about prices) from them. And, I’ve seen with my own eyes, their bartering skills and line jumping. You are right, it’s not for the faint of heart. Thanks for another great story!
Oh Kath, I could just picture the tongue lashing over prices that Wayne received from the local Mamie’s at your farmer’s market. Glad to hear that open market is still thriving in America even in the advent of 24-hour round the clock super Walmart shopping. Thanks for joining me for another exploit overseas!
Love the rich slice of life this morning. Always enjoy your posts!
Thanks, Lynne. Do they have lots of farmer’s markets in California? I would think that would be ideal with all the fresh fruits and vegetables you grow there.
Loved reading about those french colloquial proclivities, Pat! Our local farmers market starts this weekend and your post provokes me to pay more attention to the process than just the end result. Should be fun to see!
I always love visiting in Minneapolis where I barter with Dick and then hand pick my own treats from the Carlson’s Garden. I am also spoiled by other sister’s husband who farms in Illinois.
What fun! I feel as if I’ve visited the market at your side. Thanks for giving us the feel of daily life.
Thanks Carol. I also remember some enjoying some great summer produce sold at the farm stands of the Sauk Valley region.
I don’t know about France, but here in the Netherlands pasteurized milk does stand for a conservation process named after Pasteur, but it’s a different one fro sterilizing, and it doesn’t affect the taste of the milk so much as sterilizing does.
And yes, old ladies are well-practiced in jumping lines, I noticed that when doing grocery shopping here for my mother too, in her village.
Laurent, actually I am pretty sure pasteurized means the same thing here in France, I was just being funny. Interesting to note that ancient art of line jumping is still prevails in the Netherlands too.
Those lil old ladies get you every time- i’m scared! Enjoyed these foreign shopping tips immensely, Pat:)
Glad you enjoyed the open market shopping spree, Clara. Thanks for following.