Le marché Saxe-Breteuil

I've never been secretive about the fact that one of the main reasons I wanted to come live in France is the food. I remember vividly how good everything tasted, whether fruit, vegetables, and cheeses from the markets, or full meals in inexpensive restaurants, on my first trip to France — Aix-en-Provence and Paris in 1970. Between 1972 and 1982, I was lucky to become friends with two French women, one in Rouen and one in Paris, who were not only really good home cooks, inviting me to countless meals, but who were also willing to explain to me and show me how they prepared the food and sauces they served. I started to learn how to cook in Rouen in 1972-73, partly because I wasn't making enough money as a teaching assistant to be able to have meals in restaurants on a regular basis.

Above is a small sample of the foods you can buy in open-air markets all over France. This market happens to be in Paris, not far from the Hôtel des Invalides and the Tour Eiffel — and not far from CHM's Paris apartment. It's the Marché Saxe-Breteuil, which sets up twice a week on the avenue de Saxe starting at the place de Breteuil. I took these photos in the year 2001 — Walt and I spent a two weeks in Vouvray in June that year, with a few days in Paris added on at the end of the trip. I had acquired a new digital camera by then, another Kodak (the DC4800). By the way, the prices in the market were in French francs then, not euros. Divide by 5 or 6.

I never actually shopped in the marché de l'avenue de Saxe, as people call it, when I lived in Paris. It wasn't my neighborhood. But there are similar markets all over the city, as well as out in the suburbs and in every city, every town, and most villages in France. In Paris, I lived for three years just a few steps off the rue Montorgueil in the Les Halles market neighborhood. Montorgueil was an open-air market daily back then, and still is partly, but there are a lot more restaurants and cafés on the street than there used to be. It's become very trendy over the past 25 years.