The Halles Sainte-Claire market in our neighborhood is open every day except Mondays. Part of it is in a building, where you can buy fish, meat, cheese, bread, flowers, wine, etc. Outdoors there are fruit and vegetables vendors.
I asked the vendor about strawberries in September. He said that this particular variety bears fruit in the spring, is dormant in the summer, and then produces fruit again in the fall. They are smaller, but still very good.
These "myrtilles sauvages" are wild blueberries, which often make their way on to a fruit tartelette.
The outdoor cheese vendor comes on the weekends. I bought three cheeses: a brie de Meaux, a St. Félicien, a soft, round, local cheese, and then a comté, a hard cheese, also from the region.
Here's the market routine: grab a plastic container and some paper bags. Fill them with what you like and put them in your container. What you can't see in my bags: tomatoes, quetsches (a European plum, which they also call a "prune"), fresh figs, and Muscat grapes that are very sweet and juicy.
Then bring your "panier"--basket--to the "marchand", the person who will weigh everything and give you the total. He threw in some fresh basil, parsley, and mint for me. Nice! I'll be back.
Those "quetsches/prunes" I bought? Now baked into a cake. I can't wait to try it. Yes, my oven works very nicely!
My baking utensils are limited: no mixer, but I do have a whisk, a rubber scraper, and a scale. I can work with that!