my favorite part of traveling somewhere unfamiliar is always the gastronomic experience – its an adventure in itself, sometimes simply ordering can prove unfamiliar and strange, but with out a doubt it is always memorable – i managed to buy a a few ounces of black peppercorns from this spice merchant tucked away in the cool streets of this old seaside town – now every time i make a dish using black pepper i will instantly be transported back to this moment in time! i love the way a smell has the ability to do that –

i also bought a few kinds of these olives to accompany lunch one day – i ended up with some of the bright green ones – which had a fresh almost lemony flavor and soft texture and a firmer olive which was infused with a bit of spice from some chillies – they were just as tasty as they look! i wish there was one of these stands in san francisco –

one of they days i spent in Chapsal there was – thank my lucky stars a french street food festival in honor or what else? cheese!! blue cheese to be exact, a blue specific to that region in france and so so so tasty – of course while the blue was the bell of the ball what would a street food festival be with out bread! unfortunately this baker asked me not to take pictures after i snapped this one below – which is to bad he has some mouth watering offerings. of course he did make it up to me buy offering a huge hunk of blueberry sweet bread – a truce to be sure

making blue cheese crepes – to die for!

this little guy was there too – dont worry he wasnt with the street food vendors – he was simply there to look cute and get his picture taken – i just had to put him up for you to fawn over – i was glad to see that even french donkey moms give their kids bowl cuts! – but seriously isnt your heart melting right now

to die for and these are some of the yummy treats that we prepared for out lunches and breakfasts out of all of the good things we were able to find in the french markets – i miss it already – though with out it i will remain able to fit in my pants which is a good thing