Market In Arles

An outdoor market that stretches from one end of Arles to the other is held every Wednesday (and Saturday, I think). The variety of things is astounding, from cheap clothing, shoes, bags to veggies, cheeses, cooked food and kitchen utensils. A quick walk through the market, which is actually a long street, can take at least 2 hours.  I enjoyed the market for the variety and freshness of the produce and if I lived there, I'd shop there every market day.

I just LOVE tomatoes.

This looks like the postelein in The Netherlands and something similar that we have here.

A rocket (arugula) that looks like a cross between the regular rocket and the wild rocket.

Artichokes that look pretty enough for the flower vase.

Green-skin mangoes? Could these be my favorite Luzon mangoes?

These are round zucchini.

Fresh soft cheeses that look like dessert. Maybe they are.

I bought one and it was yummy, mild, fresh and so soft it melted in my warm palm.

If I had more luggage space, I'd buy more of these flavored salt which are truly worth their, er, salt.

These are lamb legs but I bought a whole roasted chicken for 6 euros. We think Europe is expensive yet we can't get the same things for the same price here. It's only when we convert the currency that we think Europe is expensive but I think food in Malaysia is much more expensive. Can we get a whole cooked chicken for RM6 and what veg is below RM2 per kg? Dollar for dollar, can we eat as well as the Europeans in terms of freshness and quality?

Tapenade, a yummy spread famous in the southern region of France, is made of olive and anchovies.

This paella pan was about 1 m or 3 feet in diameter and there are some that are even bigger.

I can't remember how much these fast-going baguettes were but croissants were 1 euro for 4 and some stalls were selling 1 euro for 6 but those weren't necessarily made of butter, surprisingly, because I thought the French only use butter in their croissants. I found that croissants didn't have to be from Paul's or fancy restaurants. The croissants I bought in ordinary bakeries and 711-like shops were just as good.

The Chinese saying "There's always a mountain higher" is so true.  I thought all the food in the world was  in the US or Australia. Then I went to Europe and found that (continental) Europeans have much more in quantity, variety and quality. So if you see me looking like this in our local supermarkets, please excuse me:

p.s. The watermelons were the sweetest I've ever eaten (plenty of samples and if you eat one piece from each stall, you don't need to buy any...) and their texture was different because they were so dense and crunchy . Absolutely heavenly, especially on a hot day. The rock melons were super super delicious although I found Italian rock melons (and tomatoes) better than any in Europe.