Ribérac market on the eve of St Sylvestre

Blue skies and mild temperatures of about 10 degrees celsius welcomed visitors to Ribérac's famous Friday market.  Although there was a certain sense of leanness to the market today, the stalls that had presented themselves were colourful with lots of country produce on show.  The market goers were milling about looking happy and relaxed. 

 

One happy and relaxed New Year's Eve market goer

 

A colourful display of cheeses from around France

 

Saucisson from Savoie

Lesley and I have been waiting since mid-October for our favourite organic producer, M. Troly to bring this season's walnut oil to market, today we struck lucky.

We asked him what particular walnuts he used in the production of his oil.  He told us that they were an ancient wild variety for which he had no name.  He informed us that there are many other varieties of walnut to be had, and the ones he knew of and recommended were the following:  La Parisienne, La ronde de Montignac, La Corne du Perigord, La Marbot and the Franquette.  This last variety he believed emanated from the area around Grenoble, although he wasn't too sure.  He suggested that if we wanted to understand all things walnut we should visit the Conservatoire des Noix in the Lot et Garonne.  He also told us that he only produced about 60 bottles of oil each year so at 13 euros a bottle he is not making a huge profit, but then it is apparent that he loves what he does and is quite happy to share his knowledge and experience with you if you show a little interest.

 

The long awaited walnut oil of M. Troly

On leaving M. Troly we moved onto the stall of Mme Nadine Forestier.  Mme Forestier's metier is the cultivation and selling of mushrooms, very tasty mushrooms as it happens and come rain or shine you will find her each Friday morning on the corner of the ancienne Tribunal d'Instance doing a steady trade.

 

Outside the ancienne Tribunal d'instance

 

Mme Forestier's recolte

Her business card describes her thus 'Champignonnière du Périgord Vert'.  We find a kilo a week is just about right. 

As I've mentioned before, Lesley's roots go back to Freetown in Sierra Leone in West Africa and there in the markets one comes across something known locally as 'junks'.  'Junks' are large bales of used clothes, mostly with well known labels like Louis Vuitton, Versace, plus the ubiquitous Nike, Adidas etc imported from wealthy countries such as the United States and the big players in the EU. 

 

Some local children helping out on the stall

 

Well, today we came across our very own Ribérarcois version of this. Outside the Café des Colonnes,  good quality clothes were on offer at a mere fraction of everyday high street prices, business appeared brisk. 

I had mentioned the weather at the top of the blog so it seemed appropriate that as we exited the market passing behind our local tourist office we were met by a sea of cyclamen.  It was just what was needed to give a little filip to the sprits after these bitter and cold grey days that seemed to have enveloped everybody over this last fortnight or so.  Happy New Year!

 

Roll on springtime after a tough November and December