Sunday Market -- Towards Closing Time (They Want to Go Home)

Today (Sunday), I got a late start getting out to the market on the banks of the Saone. I woke up late after studing statistics late last night (doing practice problems on Excel) and did some laundry in the morning.

By the time I got down to the marketplace it was almost 12:30 and with drizzling rain many of the merchants were already starting to pack up. The others who remained resorted to fire sales of champignon mushrooms and plates of vegetables that they would rather not carry back with them.

I found one plate of four cloves of garlic for 1 EUR (which is much cheaper than usual) and bought some spinach (500g for 0,80 EUR) and two apples and pears for 0,46 EUR total.

If you don't mind getting slightly less beautiful fruits and vegetables there certainly are some bargains to be found. But you have to always make sure which area the produce comes from: stuff from France costs one or two times as much as the same produce from Spain or South America. Like thge Japanese, the French seem to have very high grading standards and the stuff that makes it into the supermarkets or which commands high prices here in the markets is absolutely beautiful. But if you're going to put it into a pot-au-feu or into a compote or pastry, you don't necessarily need the best and most beautiful.