The Marché des Maraîchers in Grenoble–A Frenchwoman Shops by Her Own Rules

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By Roy Andries De Groot

Published 1973

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Next morning, it was still dark when Mademoiselle Vivette called me. I had asked to be awakened in time to go with her to market. Now, at this uncivilized hour before dawn, the idea seemed preposterous. I threw open the wide casement windows. The air was fresh, sharp, sweet... It had the shock of a cold shower.

Most of the raw materials used at the Auberge come from local farmers and suppliers. Fresh eggs are delivered almost every day, from the Carthusians in their Grande Chartreuse at the top of the Valley. Cream and milk are supplied from the farm of Joseph Mollaret, about fifty yards up the hill above the Auberge. Salad greens and vegetables come from the garden of an old lady who lives alone a little way down the hill–Madame Lucie Rey seems to have no other interest but the tender care of her garden, except on days when she goes frog hunting on the marsh. Seasonal cheeses and fruits are picked up from other farmers, and some older, retired men, with legs still strong enough to climb the mountains, gather the seasonal mushrooms and wild herbs. Village schoolchildren, on weekends, pick wild summer berries and fraises des bois. As for bread, the village baker Roger Cloître of Saint-Pierre-de-Chartreuse is at the center of its gastronomic life–supplying brioches, croissants, long loaves still hot out of his ovens at the back of the shop, or large balls of unbaked yeast dough to be molded to every purpose in Mademoiselle Ray’s kitchen. And Robert Goudard butchers the fresh meat.