To Market, To Market

Every town, down to the smallest village, seems to have a fresh food market. Chartres is no different. Chartres is situated in the center of a very agricultural region of the country, especially well known for growing céréales. Just a few hundred years ago it was the major trading point for the entire region. Between the farmers in the area and the multitude of pilgrims to the cathédrale it was the perfect place for a large market. Little has changed to this day. The city has grown up and out, expanding its perimeter to encompass much of what was once fields, but it is still surrounded by fields of all types. And while the visitors to the cathédrale may no longer be dressed in burlap and crawling on their knees in penance, the camera-toting, guide-book reading, white-sneaker-wearing tourists are still as hungry as still as hungry as ever. This is why Chartres’ markets are still thriving. They give the native Chartrains a place to mingle with friends and family, tourists the opportunity to experience an ancient part of French life, and me a chance to use my camera to its fullest. There’s the flower market, the food market, and the flea market. I don’t have any photos of the latter at the moment, but the town’s magazine announced the opening of a new market soon across town, so perhaps next weekend I’ll visit the flea market again and check out the new food market. Since a picture is worth a thousand words I give you several million words…

Vocabulaire
céréales – grains such as corn, wheat, barley, etc
cathédrale – cathedral (that one’s a cognate!)
Chartrains – citizens of Chartres

(PS - Is the vocab idea good or not?)