Market day from a small village in the french Pyreneés

I love the French local markets, the simpler and more authentic, the better. You can feel the pride from the market producers presenting their products from their own farms. 

Here, everything is in balance with nature; everything is organically grown, and the animals live a wonderful life on the fields of the Pyrenees before the day comes for them to become food for us. The taste of the lamb chop, the beef, or the duck fillet is extraordinary and can only be created by animals that have a dignified life and natural food. The eggs that come directly from the henhouse are almost warm and taste wonderful.

Here, I enjoy the food and nature; it is so simple in a way to live in total balance without stress and the rush of supermarkets.

I walk slowly through the market in my little town at the edge of the Pyrenees. The men and women behind the counters greet me cheerfully as I am a regular guest and probably the only Swedish person here.

At the cheese counter, I meet the owner who asks me how my day is going and picking out my favorite sheep cheese "Brebis". She tells me while packing my goods that she will soon become a mother for the first time, and we celebrate this wonderful news together while people pass by around us. I am so grateful to be here and to receive so good energy from the locals with genuine warmth. 

In the middle of the market stands a small van set up for wine tasting, and the town's residents enjoy sampling local wines before continuing their shopping trip. Even if it is before lunch,  people live a good life here and do what feels enjoyable. 

I move on to the fish counter which is loaded with fresh delicacies from the Atlantic sea, and I buy mussels, oysters, shrimp as big as my hand, and a few other seafood items which are put into an ice bag. The man who recognizes me praises my French and adds that I'm now starting to have a good southwest accent as well.

I feel so proud of that comment and feel so happy in my heart as I challenge myself every day to speak better in this beautiful yet complicated language. We laugh and I thank him so much for his nice compliment, and he replies, with "mon plaisir madame" which means "with pleasure madame". The French way of giving compliments is something I appreciate, as it is heartfelt with a twinkle in the eye without being pushy.

My day has just begun, and these amazing people have enriched it several times over. I take my little trolley and head to the flower corner where the man behind the counter smiles broadly as I come in. He starts speaking English with me for the first time and I compliment him on his vocabulary. He replies that he is trying his best and that I always speak French and now he wants to give back. We have met many times as I love buying my roses and lilies from him, but today he starts talking to me as if he wants to get to know me and is curious about my background and how I ended up in this little corner by the mountains. 

What a wonderful meeting with laughter and an exchange of each other's cultures while he ties together the most beautiful summer bouquet for me with roses and peonies that remind me of the scents in Sweden in June.

I walk slowly back home with a fully loaded trolley and a heart overflowing with gratitude and joy for all the beauty I have around me in my new country, France.