The Automatic Assumption That France Means Marche
Vol.030
Despite arriving late at night, I woke up at 6 AM, partly due to a well-timed case of jet lag.
Since I'm staying in France for a week, I'll start by securing some food.
Taking a lesson from the shocking prices I encountered in Paris, I plan not to waste money.
While people talk about global inflation, the percentage might not actually be that different from Japan's inflation rate.
What really changes is the exchange rate, and the situation of 1 euro fluctuating around 143 yen is still tough on the wallet.
Before heading to the supermarket, I think I'll browse for ingredients at a marche.
A marche is a market.
The word 'marche' sounds stylish, but in Japanese, it's just a market.
I often see slogans like 'It's fun to go see a marche!' or 'When you go to Europe, go to a marche!', but 'marche' is French for market.
In Italian, it becomes 'mercato'.
In English, it's 'market'. So, 'When you go to Europe, go to a marche!' is a bit off. If it were '
When you go to France (or Belgium), go to a marche!', that would make some sense.
However, the word 'marche' sounds stylish, while 'mercato' sounds a bit uncool.
And 'market' has a slightly different nuance.
Linguistic prejudice?!
I still think the word 'marche' sounds stylish.
It makes me wonder why, if French sounds so stylish, so few people want to learn it.
Shopping at the marche
First, I browse for vegetables, then buy some eggs.
I do my shopping quite normally.
This time, I really wanted to get some cabbage, so I checked the prices at each stand.
There are some for 3.99 euros and some for 1.99 euros, so I look around carefully.
France, where scallops are more expensive than oysters
Walking through the marche, I look at seasonal products and imagine what to eat or what to cook.
Then, perhaps because it's in season, a stand selling oysters appeared.
You don't really encounter this in Italy, or 'mercato' as they call it.
At least, not at the mercato in Turin, in the mountainous Piedmont region.
I hesitated.
I hesitated about whether to buy them.
And right next to them, scallops were also being sold in their shells.
Scallops are hard to get in Italy.
Since they are a favorite of mine, I tried to buy some, but they were more expensive than the oysters!
I actually saw scallops on restaurant menus, and they were by far the most expensive item.
Also, oysters are called Huître in French. On the other hand, scallops are
Saint- Jacques in French. It's Saint Jacques! The name itself sounds noble.In fact, there is a
scallop war
between the UK and France every so often, so scallops are considered a high-end ingredient in Europe.
I want to go back to Japan soon and have my fill of scallops.
I'd love to go to a fishing port market in Aomori and catch some scallops myself.
Would that be considered a marche, too?