Samedi, 29 Septembre 2012: Grands Marchés

Yann and I got up around 10h30. I immediately called Danielle to make sure she was awake. Today we planned to go to the "grands marchés."  This would be like America's farmer's markets except it's 100x bigger than the one in Harrisonburg. There's fresh fruits, vegetables, spices, cheeses, fish, etc...There are even musical acts in the middle of the street. I LOVE THIS PLACE!!!

Though the morning began clear, it ended up raining halfway through our shopping. This didn't dampen our spirits though. We, Danielle and I, were excited to experience it first-hand. We had heard so much about it already. The market occurs on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, though on Saturdays it is the busiest and placed all throughout the center of Aix. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, it is typically only on the Cours Mirabeau and includes more clothing than produce. This was a fun experience. It was fun when Yann let us go off on our own because we got to practice our french more, and by more, I still mean barely. I got some fresh figs, green plums, and a creamy sort of cow cheese. Danielle bought a basket of delicious raspberries. And Yann bought a ton of vegetables and greens. We all spent less than 5 euro! I was tempted to buy some fresh fish but it is so expensive here, even at the market. A tuna steak cost 35 euro...I think I'll buy that next time.

We went home after our little shopping experience to drop off our groceries, then headed back out after the rain had subsided somewhat. We walked for awhile until we found a place where we wanted to get lunch. We ended up at Le Patacrêpe, and if you haven't guessed yet, their specialty is crêpes. Yann and Danielle each got some type of crêpe while I decided to go for a salad that was served on top of a crêpe. Components of this salad are tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, raw ham, pesto, slivers of parmesan, romaine lettuce, spices, on top of a crêpe...My plate was huge! They definitely gave me my money's worth, probably more. I ended up needing help to finish it.

After lunch, we walked around the shops to find Maggie some cough drops. Everyone has been sick here...Except for me. We had to take cover at Danielle's apartment because it started raining again. After the rain officially stopped, Yann and I dropped the lozenges off at Maggie's then went home to rest.

We pretty much laid low for the rest of the night. Only getting up for dinner. Tonight I introduced Yann to 28 Days Later--one of my favorite 'zombie' flicks! He seemed to enjoy it enough. Zombie/Horror/Vampire education has commenced :-) Good night y'all!