Saturday is market day in Saint-Aignan. I don't go as often as I used to, or as often as I should. Springtime is the best season, because the local asparagus, radishes, strawberries, and cheeses are tempting.
I parked by the bridge and walked up to the market square. In these photos, you see some of the town's older buildings, some shops, the market set up on the town square, the bridge, and the château. It started raining after I had done my shopping, just as I was getting back to the car.
Les brioches sont très tentantes, d'autant plus que je n'ai pas encore pris mon petit déjeuner!
ReplyDeleteI should have bought at brioche, but I didn't. I was focused on bread, and I got a pain de campagne bio and a loaf that they called une feuille de vigne (don't know why — it didn't look like any kind of leaf to me). I don't really like the bread. It tastes too srongly of sourdough to me. Not what I prefer.
ReplyDeleteThere is no bread delivery anymore, insn't it?
DeleteWhat about the boulangerie in the village and the one in the boonies?
No, there is no more porteuse de pain. There are two good boulangeries in Noyers, two in Saint-Aignan, and one in Mareuil. We buy three or four baguettes at a time, cut them up, and freeze them in plastic bags. That works for us. Oh, the boulangerie in the vignes (boonies) closed down a few years ago. Both Intermarché in Noyers and SuperU in Saint-Aignan sell very good bread these days. We won't go hungry.
DeleteBefore leaving Paris last year, I had many all cut up baguettes in the freezer. I took the pieces out of the plastic bags and placed them on a board to dry up while I was away. That's what I'm having right now for breakfast. Je les trempe dans mon thé qui les ramollit et les rend mangeables. I hate to waste food!
DeleteCHM, that leftover bread is interesting- if I were to leave bread out here it would be moldy I think. Ken, I don't like the taste of sourdough bread either and when I'm in San Francisco I suffer.
DeleteEvelyn, I did the same thing two years ago and when I was back a few months later, I found out that but a few pieces were moldy, but not all, and those not moldy were perfectly edible.
DeleteWonderful scenes of lovely Saint Aignan :)
ReplyDeleteJudy, I don't think I ever answered your question about the bread I used for those grilled goat cheese and chard sandwiches. No, I didn't make the bread. I bought it. I noticed when I looked at my photos of the Saint-Aignan market that the bread vendor has sandwich loaves (pain de mie). I'll have to try one of those.
DeleteGreat tour, Ken. Thanks. I can just imagine how delighted you and Walt must have been to drive into Saint Aignan for the first time thinking that might be 'your' village if you bought the house.
ReplyDeleteA realtor had recommended Saint-Aignan to us. We were to see him again the next day, in the afternoon. So in the morning we drove to Saint-Aignan from our gîte near Amboise, walked around, and ate lunch. That afternoon was the first time we saw the house we've been living in for 16 years now.
DeleteThat was fun to see your video of your saturday morning going to the market. I might have had to try that challah? All of the breads looked tasty to me! That radishes and carrots were displayed beautifully, too.
ReplyDeleteThose breads were beautiful. I'll try more over the next weeks and months. Yesterday I went shopping and bought a brioche made in the Vendée region, where we spent a week last fall.
DeleteI can find those brioches from Vendée at Monoprix here in Paris. They're as good as industrial brioches could be. But fresh brioches made in a pastry shop are something else!
DeleteIs there a boulangerie near your place in Paris that makes really good brioche? I'd like to try it sometime. I remember that you didn't really like the brioche that you bought in our village baker's shop a few years ago. The Vendée brioche I bought is good. It's IGP, Label Rouge, and sans conservateurs.
DeleteI searched Google for la meilleure brioche à Paris and found this in Le Figaro — « La première place de Lenôtre n'est pas vraiment une surprise. La célèbre maison fait ici la preuve de sa maîtrise des grands classiques de la viennoiserie. Sa brioche, joliment joufflue, dorée à souhait, sentant bon le beurre frais et fondante en bouche répond à tous les critères d'une vraie brioche individuelle, avec sa tête ronde et sa base ciselée par le moule. Bonne nouvelle pour les amateurs, ces petites bouchées d'enfance sont toutes fabriquées dans les Yvelines, au sein du même laboratoire de production. On peut donc les déguster dans la douzaine d'adresses Lenôtre qui quadrillent la capitale. » My bolding!
DeleteAll those yummy foods, now I'm hungry again.
ReplyDeleteI like the checkerboard stonework in that first photo -- I've seen it in pictures of other parts of central France, so guessing it's a regional thing.
I think I'm always hungry if the last meal has been more than an hour ago. I don't really know anything about the checkerboard stonework.
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