Market day; also known as I wanna be like Vincent Price...

Well, it appears that all of France is back from vacay, because the market was busier than it's been in a long time. As we've gotten more and more settled into the town it's become so much more than just the day we buy the majority of our food for the week, but it's also become a real social event where we get to catch up with friends whom we may have not seen during the week.


It's also the day Dan and I have pain aux chocolat for breakfast with espresso. Best way to start off a Sunday...


But this day at the boulangerie was different than all the rest, because there was a surprise hiding in the counter...



...MACARONS!

This may seem silly that living in France I consider it to be a surprise to find macarons at the boulangerie, but we actually haven't had any in the 6 months + since we've been here because none of the boulangeries in our area carry them. This runs quite contrary to what I had envisioned in Chicago on February 11th of this year, where I thought the streets would be lined with macarons of every color...apparently this is only in Paris. :( Needless to say, I am obsessed with macarons, and we definitley brought home several of those delicious little devils since this was one of the few times a year our boulangerie makes them...

What is this you ask? Did we happen to procure anything at the market to ward off Dracula? Funny thing you should mention that because we totally did...


Yep, it's a braided garlic thing with about 12 garlic bulbs on it, and it comes with a hook so that you may hang it up to ward off vampires (OR, *nerd alert* zombies from the Vincent Price classic, "Last Man on Earth," *end nerd alert*) while you make your pasta.


[Newest recruit to Vincent Price fandom...]


We tried to have our Sunday lunch outside, but despite the cooler temps the flies were out like crazy. Even putting my bug repellent fan courtesy of Momma and Poppa Jaffe on the table next to our food couldn't deter the flies. Nature was all kinds of crazy yesterday as even the gang of bees who usually keep to themselves were all up in our grill, so we took our lunch inside. (Sidenote: I'm seriously considering bee boxes on the patio as I think it's time these bees earned their keep, rather than merely loitering like our patio is a Wawa parking lot...)


So, once inside, Bug Killing Ninja Dr. Hadron went on the offensive. He has gotten so good at killing the flies that he no longer has the need for such primitive tools as a newspaper or fly swatter, but uses his hands to grab them out of thin air...it's quite Karate Kid-ish, and I can't wait for him to start grabbing the flies out of the air with chopsticks...


And all the while, the Phanatic looked longingly out the window and dreamt of doing belly-rolls at the World Series for a third year in a row...


And I finally got my macarons and espresso. :)