On Saturday mornings there’s a farmers market on the public grounds in St. Tropez, so that’s where we headed after breakfast. We thought that what with this being the off-season that things wouldn’t be too crowded, but as Jennifer would remark, it seemed even busier than during the tourist season. Part of that impression may have been due to the roadwork that was occurring along one of the major streets leading into town, meaning few parking spaces than usual. In the end we waited and got a spot in the insanely clean (the floors are polished!) underground parking garage there.
We made our way through the stalls, and Erika ended up picking up a pair of nice sweaters, some cheap but nice-looking bras (“much less expensive than at home” apparently), and a fine blue Indian silk skirt. I gave Annie just enough Euros to buy a small, colourfully painted wooden that she was captivated by at a local stall. I didn’t find anything I particularly wanted or needed, and I couldn’t find any small jars of the lavender honey that usually go down well as gifts for people back home.
Annie and the Colourful Wooden Cats (I Love the Expression on the “Grandmother” Behind Her)
Around noontime everything started shutting down, and we made our way over to the small merry-go-round which has always been a favourite for the girls. Vanessa was with her Grandpa, so Annie got about 10 euro’s worth of rides, which latest the better part of an hour. She had a blast.
Annie on the Merry-Go-Round Horse at St. Tropez
When she had finished we made our way over to Le Café, which was as full as could be. The older men of the town were now playing games of bocce on the boulevard where all of the stalls had been less than an hour before, and the pigeons returned in strength. Since we couldn’t get into Le Café, we settled for Café des Arts, which was something of a relief since after several days straight of incredibly rich food, it was nice to have filling “peasant fare” instead. I had a dish comprised of several kinds of meat — lamb, sausage, and pork — on top of a bed of couscous, accompanied by a small jug of warm, lightly-spicy sauce that could be poured over it. Good hearty food, spoiled only by the French habit of smoking copiously indoors at the dinner table both during and after a meal.
Afterwards we made our way down to an ice cream store down by the harbour, where just about everybody came away with insanely rich and sugary ice cream. Yum!
The afternoon was spent wandering around the grounds of the chateau. This was an even greyer day than the one before, so the chances of good photography were even less than before, but I took what I could in the hopes that something would turn out okay despite the poor lighting.
