The town of Auch was slowly coming to life in the crisp, early morning air. The town square was filling up with stands and food trucks; and some of the wares were simply displayed on the cobblestone pavement. Residents were strolling from vendor to vendor, visiting with friends and neighbors, and shopping for needed items. Nobody seemed to be in a hurry. In fact, many locals took the time to enjoy an espresso along with a little sweet treat at the small cafe next to the market. We did too!
The farmers market was located right between the Cathedral Sainte Marie and a gorgeous building dating back to the middle ages.
Everything imaginable was displayed on vendor’s tables:
- A rainbow of fresh fruits and vegetables
- Fragrant bouquets of flowers
- Herbs
- Vegetable and flower plants for the garden
- Used books
- Mattresses
- Entire dining room sets
- Freshly baked crusty bread
- Handmade goat cheese
- Out-of-this-world Basque cheese, some of it flavored with local Espelette pepper flakes (my absolute favorite!)
- Dried beans, lentils and grains
- A huge assortment of olives
- Dried fruits, nuts and spices
- Meat and seafood
- Basque berets
- Freshly cooked crepes filled with Nutella and freshly sliced strawberries.
While browsing the market offerings, chatting with the vendors, and inquiring about the local cuisine, I noticed some dried fruit: small yellowish, oval sugarcoated pieces. Kumquats! They tasted incredibly delicious. Sweet, but not too sweet. Tart, but not too tart. And they were just moist enough to give them a “fresh” mouthfeel. I immediately asked for a few more than I had originally planned on getting. I have never had any dried fruit quite like this before.
Dehydrated Kumquats
We also bought some fresh bread, locally grown and roasted almonds, a small piece of goat cheese and some of the incredible Esplelette infused cheese to bring along on the bus and train to our next stop …
Pau, the city with the “Pyrenees Balcony”.
in cahoots with muddy boots 
I know nothing regarding the adventures about which you write, but you do document them so beautifully!
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Thank you!
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Beautiful pictures!
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Thank you, Misty! Maybe we can go to a Farmers Market together sometime. I would like that!
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Now I’m really hungry ! Wow!
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The only thing I wish I had had would have been a kitchen! Next time!
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I love fresh kumquats, but have never enjoyed them as a dried fruit…sounds fab!
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They were so delicious , I could have eaten myself silly! Hopefully I can replicate them come Kumquat season.
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I’m tucking the idea of drying and sugaring them as well.
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We should compare notes come Kumquat Season! Yum!
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Beautiful!
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Thank you! I checked out your blog and love it! Beautiful photos and travel stories. I also find your theme very appealing. Great job, and I am looking forward to following your adventures.
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Thank you! I also signed up to follow you, so I guess I’ll see you later, then! 🙂
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This was a beautiful post and brought back one of my fondest memories of Farmers Markets in Europe. Your pictures are gorgeous and made me hungry, especially the cheese. Oh my!
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Thank you! I don’t eat cheese often, but this was a special treat. I love Farmers Markets, and went to several while we traveled through Europe.
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Reblogged this on spencesgirl and commented:
I have to share this post from one of my favorite fellow bloggers, incahootswithmuddyboots. It brought back such special memories of Farmers markets that Spence and I enjoyed while in Europe. Just lovely! Enjoy!
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I would like to know how you make the fine display of pictures? Lovely post on a market
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Do you mean the tiled squares?
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There are a lot of pictures from the market put together in a white frame filling the whole space of the blog
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When creating your post, go to add media and click on “create a gallery”at the top left on your screen. All your photos should be there, you select all the ones you would like to put into the post and the click at the lower right corner “create new gallery”.Then you will get a new screen with the selected pictures and on the right side is an option for gallery settings. You choose the size, whether you want them to appear randomly as a slide show, tiled squares or tiled mosaic. The click “insert gallery”, it will go to the post. Save and then preview! If you don’t like it, click on the gallery and its edit button and try until you like what you see. Have fun! I hope this helps!
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Thank you for telling me. I do use ” gallery” but never new there were more possibilities in that function
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I am glad I could be of help. Have fun exploring all the possibilities!
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Wonderful that we are here to help each other. What a rich world
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Indeed!
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Oh! I just want to live there! Thanks for show all those photos!
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I hope to back there some day. It is a very small place and off the beaten path. I imagine that helps keep it from getting overrun. The people were wonderful, and the pace slow. My kind of town!
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