Today we did a market double header--going to Monpazier for the marché traditionel today, then taking full advantage of the marché du nocturne in Duras this evening.
Monpazier is one of the Plus Beaux Village du France and so, when it's market day there the village is not only beautiful, it's lively and festive too. We bought cheeses, tapenade and olives. I found some other gift items in the local shops. We sat down for two café grand crème at a sidewalk café and watched the multi-colored, multi-ethnic, multi-generational crowd mill about the stalls.
On the way back we stopped in two new towns for us--Villeréal and Lauzun, both in the Lot-et-Garonne department a little south of Duras.
Tonight, we invited my pen pal Mimi and her husband Ken to come join us at the night market. We started with appetizers and aperitifs at the Clocktower Cottage then, after we'd finished nearly two bottles of rosé, we headed down to the market square to find dinner.
We all made a sweep of the dozen plus food booths and everyone chose which vendor they would buy dinner from. Mimi volunteered to save four spaces at a dining table while the rest got our dinners, then she got up and headed to her preferred vendor. I ended up with Spanish-style calamari with rice, Joe got a half chicken with potatoes and veg, Ken got a heaping plate of ham with sides and Mimi found grilled sea bass. We sat at the Café de la Paix tables and ordered a beer from them and had a good table close to the excellent jazz combo. I'm not exaggerating when I say that there might have been over 1,000 people at this village event. Duras was truly the happening place tonight.
Mimi and Ken left us after ten o'clock and we sat on our terrace with the last drips of wine listening to the last set of the jazz band playing in the square until the clock above our heads told us it was time to call it a night.
Total delight!! Any more good finds for the cottage?
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