Christina's Cuisine: Marché

What does the typical French person do on Saturday morning? Go the the marché, of course! I went to my first outdoor French market and am still in awe of all of the products offered. Any vegetable, spice, cheese, or meat needed for a recipe can be found at the market. The way the produce was presented shocked me a little bit at first. The carrots still had dirt on them, like they were pulled from the ground that very morning, and the apples were not coated in wax and shined to a high gloss like American apples. Also many products I saw at the market would have been considered "rare" or hard to find in America but in France they are just everyday foods. When I saw a table filled with whole vanilla beans, I had to do a double-take because it is impossible to find vanilla beans at Harris Teeter. All in all, I loved walking through the market and plan to make that apart of my routine while I am in France.