June 5, 2015. market day in Treviers

June 5, 2015 Market Day in Treviers

We made no plans for today.  We slept until almost 10:00 and then drove to the next town, Treviers for its market day.  The town square was sparsely dotted with vendors: 2 vegetable,  1 fish, 1 meat, 1 cheese, and 1 laitere (milk, yogurt, etc.).  In another small square there was one or two clothiers.  We bought green  beans and lettuce for salad Nicoise.  English peas,for our seafood soup this evening and an heirloom tomato for bacon and tomato sandwiches  Then we wandered over to the seafood wagon (most merchants come with specially fitted trucks that are set up with their wares in place and they only need to lift the side panel to open for business and create an awning).

We saw that the were offering oysters from Isney at prices,we paid at the wholesaler in Isney, so we decided to buy seafood for our lunch and not drive to Isney.  We decided to have a seafood extravaganza for lunch, so we bought a dozen  oysters, six large rose shrimp, 14 Manila clams from Manchester, France, four herring pickled fillets, and a box of white anchovies pickled in  herbs for 32€.  We then walked to the cheese seller and bought ½ of a box of Pont Eveque cheese. 

We then walked to the corner boulangere and pastry store, where we bought a baguette, a croissant, an éclair, and a small bag of chocolate covered lemon peel.  

When you are on vacation in France, having eating experiences is at a premium, even over considerations of the cost.  Actually things cost more but the quality is better. 

We then drove the 5 miles,back to to Vierville and made more cocktail sauce.  I made a mignonette sauce with shallots and apple vinegar and added mayonnaise, a little lemon juice, some sugar, a little salt, some dried tarragon.  

      Manila clams streamed in butter and white wine in yellow casserole pot

Suzette,then made a poaching  liquid if butter, white wine, and parsley and poached the clams.  I opened the oysters, a filled plates with the oysters on the half shell and shrimp.  Suzette cut wedges of lemon and placed the steamed clams on the table outside.  We opened our bottle of Sancerre, for this great occasion and laid out the Pont Eveque cheese and bread and ate a wonderful lunch.  Here is a picture.

After lunch we sat and read.  Suzette finished the Silkworm by Robert Gailbraith (i.e. J.K. Rowlings) and I read a May 4, 2015 New Yorker article on the California water situation surrounding issues with the Salton Sea.

Then at 3:30 we drove to several D Day sites and the museum at St. Laurant sur Mer and Colleville, which was the first spot where the Americans were able to get to the heights above the beach.  We visited the D Day Museum at St. Laurant and then drove north to the American cemetery and walked through it.  We then came by the beach road and fixed the best fish and oyster soup I have ever had with the fresh English peas we bought this morning.  It had the clam broth with the poached shrimp heads from lunch, the filets of plaice and PPI a oyster stew from last night with the leeks and parsley in it made with milks plus potatoes and bacon.  The very best ever.  We drank the rest of the Sancerre with it and I made cheese sandwiches with the time cheese melted in the oven.

For dessert I ate a cup of yogurt with,some of Suzette’s freshly made rhubarb and strawberry compote and we are drinking Pommeau  de Normandie made by Gerard Desvoye in Cambremer.  It is a small farm with an old half timbered barn that is the sales room, but containing lots of awards.

We stopped at Ferme de Sapiens and bought a bottle of their gold medal apple juice to drink on the drive back to Paris on Sunday.

Bon Appetit