Come hell, high water, or snow...

This is one my favorite things about Europe.

I don't care what may be awry with the weather, there will be the weekly market, by golly!

And the crowd still flocks...for their fresh flowers, fish, breads, meats, vegetables, fruits, even eggs from local farms.

It's true, I often have a hard time finding the same quality for price in local stores  --- and I cannot find many of the varieties of fish elsewhere, even in the fanciest grocery store in town.

I usually walk around every week, take in my surroundings (and I'll admit a secret - the one time I allow myself a decadent patisserie!). I always buy fresh flowers (the cheap price for really drop-dead gorgeous stems might surprise many Americans). But I never bring a camera. I guess I try to blend in, if that's possible. Europeans in general don't really wear make-up, and I, well, I do. And it's something I just can't change for the sake of adaptation.

I tell myself it's a cultural thing. I mean most Americans wear make-up.  And as I've mentioned before, I'm from the South, to boot. I don't think I've ever seen my mother without make-up, and along those lines, I know she shaves her legs every, single solitary day of her life. It's just the way I was raised. It used to insult me when she would tell me to put on some lipstick. I would think - hey! Aren't you happy I'm proud with the way you made me, au naturel? I mean surely it's a compliment I can go without my 'war-paint', as an old friend used to call it. But no. I was raised to look my best no matter what the occasion. C'est la vie, for me, anyway.

Anyway, here make-up is rare. I have a hard time finding make-up in stores (best bet is in perfume shops, but they only sell the expensive make-up brands like Chanel and Guerlain). Honestly, if I do come across a few tubes of cheap Loreal - you can bet your bottom dollar you'll have to fork out almost 15 euros. It's ridiculous. Anyway, I'm off on a tangent. The point is, I stand out at the markets.

And now I'm doing this blog. I'm committed. I re-considered this morning, weighed all my options (what do I have to lose), and sported the big Canon.

Take a peek at these die-hards.

More tantalizing pics after this jump: