A visit to the market was always a favourite outing during our summer holidays in France and now we are lucky to be able to make it one of the highlights of our week every week. There are loads of markets to choose from, some huge, some tiny but our favourite since we came here is the one on Thursday mornings atVillefranche. Its a big market and true it does get very crowded at the height of the holiday season but it keeps going throughout the winter with a wide range of stallholders.
There is always loads of local produce reflecting the changing seasons. Locally grown peaches and plums have now given way to apples and prunes, geraniums to pansies and cyclamen. We can buy locally produced goats cheese and a recently discovered favourite vieux Rodez as well as roquefort, and seasonal treats like chanterelle mushrooms. Todays treat was another kilo of juicy new season prunes - I've already reserved lots in Armagnac for Christmas pressies I have some more to do but couldn't resist buying enough to have some to enjoy fresh.
Thursday after the market also means a chance for a special lunch with freshly bought goodies- today goats cheese in filo parcels. The cooler mornings and evenings have meant breakfast and dinner is more often eaten indoors just lately but lunch is still an al fresco event.
And after lunch it was time for the wine so a drive through the countryside looking beautiful as the leaves start to turn to the other side of Cordes where the trees give way to the Gaillac vineyards.
We have been to Domaine de la Chanade several times now and as it is in these places when you area regular customer always get great treatment. They were really busy dealing with this year's grape harvest but insisted we went inside to see how things were doing.
TC got taken up to look inside the huge tanks of fermenting grapes ( too dangerous for madam apparently).
We were told to be sure to go back in a few weeks to watch the next stage.
So stocked up for a while on Galian - red and white - with a bit of luck there will be some left for Christmas!
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