Joyeux Noël: shopping spree at the french market

Bonjour madame! Bonjour monsieur! For a moment there it seemed as if we had somehow miraculously crossed borders into the domain of our fromage and baguette-toting neighbors to the west, but this past weekend our feet were firmly planted in Italy. How's that for a taste of international holiday flair? If you can't go to France then France comes to you, and it was a very good thing we checked out this french market in Segrate (Milan). Usually we head over to Trentino-Alto Adige for the mercatini di natale like the ones visited in Trento and Merano - both are beautiful places to visit at any time of the year but even more enchanting during winter holidays.

I'd say that the majority of the merchants could speak italian although there were a couple that only conversed in french. Better for us, because it isn't often that MotH gets to put his french to use and for me to hear it being spoken. The products on display ran the gamut from eclairs to foie gras, and vibrantly colorful spices to scented soaps. Love lokum? We do. Tablecloths from Provence? In every color and size imaginable. But the item that especially caught my attention were bags of Oignon de Roscoff. These pink onions from Brittany are said to be gentle in flavor and capable of extended storage in a cool, dark place for a couple of months. Photos of things that we did/did not resist all in a big set on Flickr. We had the car smelling of onions, garlic, lavender, cassoulet and cheese all the way home.