Saturday, February 27, 2016

Market Day again!!!  I did not even hear the vendors setting up which is amazing because they are usually very loud.  When we finally got up, we decided it was the day for eclairs for breakfast.  With a banana, of course!  The box the eclairs came in was beautiful!  You can tell how delicious they were just by looking at them, oui? 

After breakfast we walked through the market just drooling over the cheese and the gorgeous vegetables.  There are fewer vendors for sure but their products are wonderful.

In an early post, I mentioned two new shops that had opened in Saint Aignan.  Saturday we were able to visit the new shop on the square -- Maitre Savonitta. I failed to get a picture of the front of the store but I will tomorrow and post it.  It is a pretty store, brightly lit and chock full of French soaps, lotions, decor, etc.  Of course we had to pick out some French soaps to take home.  Boy was that a difficult decision!

It tickled us because Douglas had just told us that when it's lunchtime, look out because the shop owners quickly close their stores to have lunch.  We were leisurely shopping and picking out a few things and the owner came over and showed me her watch to let me know she was closing in five minutes!  Of course we are used to salespeople staying open as long as anyone is willing to shop and spend money.  We wrapped up our shopping quickly so she would not miss her lunch!  

I'm sure the store is quiet now most of the time because of the time of year, but I bet it will be bustling in the summer tourist season.

Many of the people we know gather at Aux Cepages after the Saturday market but we forgot so we missed out on the boisterous conversations that are part of the gathering.  On her way home for lunch, Claire stopped by our house and we shared a glass of wine and got caught up on the local news.  Douglas had gone on home ahead of her to prepare lunch and after waiting for about two hours for her to come home, he came over to collect her.  Of course he had to have a glass of wine too!  I think they had lunch at about 4:30 pm.  

We were invited to Christina and Claude's for dinner and promptly at 7:00 pm Claude came by to walk us to his house.  How polite is that?  Their home is very, very pretty and full of beautiful furniture.  When we arrived we had Christina's special sangria and it was delicious. She had set out many hors d'ouevres and I would have been happy with just that to eat and drink.

She then served this beautiful salad.  There were three kinds of salad on the plate with a perfect avocado in the middle.  The dressing was fresh and light.  They served a great red wine with this course but they served David white wine because they know he prefers it.  They could not be more accommodating!
 

Both Claude and Christina love to sing so while Christina finished preparing dinner, Claude sang a few songs for us.  The she joined us and sang a few songs too.
 

 

Christina prepared a wonderful chicken and noodles dish for me, Claude and herself.  It was out of this world!
 

David got his own special meal because he is a vegetarian.  It was tortellini in a bechamel and gruyere cheese sauce -- what could be better than that???
 

The main course was followed by a small drink of Calvados in a gorgeous crystal goblet.
 

Next was the cheese course.  Claude served a very special red wine with this course.  It was a gift from Christina on their anniversary!  You can see that David was very happy and content.
 

Finally they tried to serve us the ice cream we brought for dessert but there was no way we could eat another bite.  Or drink another drop.

After a little more conversation we said good night and rolled downhill to our house.  Thankfully it is a very short walk.