Saturday, November 8, 2008

Back in France: the general store.





It's good to be back in France after the usual umpteen hours of travelling made worse this time by a train strike. Geraniums are still in bloom, daylight hours a little longer here and temperatures by day--well, at least today--a balmy 15 degrees.

Errands to do included a trip to Lavelanet to buy warm and waterproof footwear, easily found at Gamm Vert. Gardening store? Hardware store? Food store? I don't know anywhere else you could buy vegetable seeds, olive trees, flowering plants, big copper pans for jam-making, rings for bulls' noses, clippers for docking lambs' tails, aprons, cookbooks, fleece vests, and--of course--warm and waterproof footwear. 

Then there's the food and wine. Gamm Vert is strong on supporting local producers. Here you can buy wines, honey, preserves, sausages, hams, apples, potatoes, cheeses, fresh eggs (which you select individually from a large basket) and a variety of vinegars made about 20 minutes from where we live. Lavender, nettle and chive are just three possibilities. 

I'll probably blog more on nettles at some future date. The ancienne house we've bought has a jungle of a garden thick with nettles. A sign of good soil says the present owner.

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