We’re clearly making up for missing French street markets for four years. Saturday is when Revel holds its market and it’s always an interesting one. We even remembered where to find a parking spot which is just as well ‘cos they can be hard to find.
The market was busy, though Francine drew the line at calling it heaving. The most interesting food stalls had queues and I’m not good at queuing so we wandered around just looking while we waited for things to calm down a little. The square has a fabulous old timbered market hall in the very centre and the surrounding shuttered buildings on all four sides add to the ancient character of the place. The non-food stalls are scattered along a street outside the main square.
It’s Coco de Paimpol season. These are white beans, rather like haricots or cannellinis, in rather tatty, unattractive pods. The French buy them in large quantities and bottle them, I imagine to see them through the winter months. Being a huge fan of pulses, eventually I couldn’t resist joining a short queue and buying a measly kilo. Well, I couldn’t deal with a larger quantity. I found three large artichokes for €3 irresistible too, with the idea of a paella forming in my head, so I grabbed those and added a pepper.
Purchases securely in my rucksack, as we were making our way back to the car Francine spotted a tiny butterfly feeding on some potted flowers. It’s one of those that annoyingly keeps its wings shut. It looked like a blue but I failed to recognize the underside. My book soon solved the problem. I had seen this once before but only in Spain – it’s a Geranium Bronze (Cacyreus marshalli), an import originally from South Africa.
We were close to Sorèze again but this time the weather was good and we made it. It turned out not to be the place Francine had thought it was but, with a very limited choice we did find a personable little restaurant for a bite of lunch. I don’t regard pizza a as a proper meal but shared between two a veggie pizza here was just right. I must say I don’t think I’ve eaten a better pizza but my experience is admittedly limited.
We returned via a tortuous route through Saissac so we could stick our noses into the upper reaches of La Rigole. ‘’T was a little too late in the day, however, and it was mostly shaded. There were a couple of Demoiselles flitting in a small patch of sunlight but not advantageously positioned. I’m getting picky.
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