Market pictures

I went to the market on Saturday just to see what it was like in the renovated market square. Turns out it was just like before, only with no trees. It's pretty bland, really. I did talk to one of the vendors, the one we call Madame Doudouille. We talked about how the place was a little triste (sad looking) with no trees.

Madame Doudouille's truck on the right. On the left, our favorite poultry vendor.

The woman who was ahead of me agreed. But she said there would be trees. In ten years. So I joked that they must have planted seeds. Smiles all around. The vendors don't like being back in the old place, it seems. They preferred the upper place because it was a whole lot easier for them to drive in and park. Oh well.

A good produce vendor. He also sells seedlings for your garden. Those are little lettuce plants in front.

Madame Doudouille told me that the original plans for the renovation included a fountain. That would have been nice. But, she said, the fountain was the first thing to be cut due to budget constraints. A friend of ours also said something about benches, but there are as yet no benches to be seen.

These are people lined up in front of the fish monger's stand. They always have great seafood.

We shall see how it all works out. We've heard from some people who live on the place that the town did a real lousy job managing the work. They're not happy with the outcome. Although the serious improvements are the utilities like the water pipes, the sewer pipes, and the electrical stuff, all underground. That's the stuff that nobody sees, but one woman at the market said that she's lived here for over forty years and this is the first time those things were updated. So maybe that's a good thing.

Looking out of the place toward the church. A horse butcher shop is on the left.

At any rate, progress is slow, and I'm sure that once the trees get planted and the benches get installed, things will settle down into a normal state. The place has been there since the middle ages and I'm sure it will be there for a long time to come.