Les Gastronomes - #2 in the occasional series French Impressions

It is no secret that the French love food, and I was fully expecting to find food and eating taking up quite a large amount of my time once in France.  What I was not quite expecting was the excellence of presentation, and the standard and variety of choice in the majority of shops purveying food.  It's like shopping for shoes!  As much thought (and creative photography) seems to go into the sale of a camembert as into a pair of Clergerie.  And there is really nothing wrong with that! 

The first supermarket I drifted into, in the small town of Marseillan, saw me wandering through the aisles for more than an hour, eyes glazed, mouth watering, basket empty, unable to choose anything, completely bewildered by the selection on offer. It was like a vast delicatessen, especially in comparison to the choice offered by the supermarket chains in Australia, Coles and Woolworths (yes, there are only two to choose from), who both stock exactly the same stuff and have done so for the last ten years without change. 

Then I discovered that the Carrefour in Marseillan is really quite small and relatively understocked.  You should see the Inter Marché in Agde or the Hyper U in Clermont l'Herault - 74 aisles of cheese, not counting the gourmet section!  Fresh fish, as only seen in the fish markets of Ultimo, served as standard in every store! 
Six aisles of wine not including the 'specialist' climate controlled room for posh labels!  Quails, duck, venison, foie gras, fresh paella, galettes, tartines, macarons, all readily available.  Heaven knows what might be in store in a large city such as Montpellier - fine dining sample areas and free armagnac and cigars afterwards?  It is a food lovers heaven, and I am in fast track training to become one of the team. 

In addition to this, every town has its weekly market where all the local producers bring their fresh stocks and set up stall at dawn, with the residents hot on their tracks to snap up the freshest and best on offer.  Honey, nuts, olives, saucisson, cheese (of course), jams, fruit and vegetables, butter, eggs, herbs and spices, chocolate, bread, cakes - endless displays of hand made, home produced goods, not to mention the wines from local vineyards with the vignerone selling it to you, along with the full story of how it was grown, picked, aged and bottled. 

Flower sellers nestle alongside the foodstuffs and the classic woven baskets essential for every market shopper are on prominent display, too.  Just to keep the balance nicely French, one can pick up a sexy pair of lace top stockings at the same time as a fat brie or a crate of ripe pears - after all, food isn't the only enjoyment life has to offer! What I like most about this approach to food is that it is actually a holistic approach to life itself. The emphasis is on what is in season, local, organic, timely and fresh, as supplied by the people who work the surrounding land. Good food and good living is important enough to be a daily part of life, not something done in one 'big shop' and got out of the way. Yes, sometimes this can be time consuming, but overall, to me, it feels more connected with the rhythms of life and the seasons of nature.