French Friday: Au marché

There's no question that locally grown fruits and veggies are more beautiful and more delicious. I love our Wisconsin farmers' markets at this time of year -- the colors, the aromas, the flavors; yet I always compare them to the wonderful outdoor markets in France where flowers, produce, and hand-lettered signs are all arranged so artistically. Enjoy a virtual stroll through the markets of Aix-en-Provence, Nice, and Paris.

Maybe if you're lucky, you find the last mango in Paris! {All photos taken at markets in Paris, Nice, and Aix-en-Provence}

Firefly

June 26, 2014 Photo (177/365): "In broad daylight"

Do you recognize this guy with the awesome beely-boppers? I rarely see him and his friends out during the day. I wonder if they're always here and I just haven't noticed them. On hot summer nights when I was a little girl, I'd capture dozens of them in a mason jar. Yet despite the lovely glow of my natural nightlight, I would worry about the little creatures and often sneak out before dawn to set them free. 

"Here come real stars to fill the upper skies, and here on earth come emulating flies, that though they never equal stars in size, (and they were never really stars at heart) achieve at times a very star-like start. Only, of course, they can't sustain the part.” - Robert Frost, “Fireflies in the Garden"

Photo courtesy of Pinterest

Lesson

June 25, 2014 Photo (176/365): "Bee Mindful"

"The bee collects honey from flowers in such a way as to do the least damage or destruction to them, and he leaves them whole, undamaged and fresh, just as he found them." - Saint Francis de Sales

Blue

June 24, 2014 Photo (175/365): "Blue Skies"

FINALLY..."Blue skies smiling at me. Nothing but blue skies do I see." - Irving Berlin