You may be wondering why I am showing you this photo of a little overly-enthusiastic Frenchman trying to sell you his torchons...dishcloths. (It sounds so much better in French.) Well, I have been tagged by KD at Southern Whimsy to play Picture Tag! Here are the rules:1) Choose the 4th folder where you store your pictures on your computer.
2) Select the 4th picture in the folder.
3) Explain the picture.
4) Tag 4 people to do the same.
And this guy was waiting for me in my 4th folder, happy to display his wares! I think that if somehow he found out he was being featured in my blog, he'd be rather pleased, don't you? I did buy the very one he's holding, by the way...and more good stuff. Let me explain....
That picture and the ones that follow were taken at the Sunday antique flea market in l'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, France. This was the little town I used as my headquarters for my retirement celebration/vacation. I had discovered it thanks to Rick Steves and Peter Mayle, both of whom have written wonderful books about Provence. This flea market is considered to be the 3rd best in France, and that is good enough for me. There was some of everything...colorful perfumed soap from Marseilles...
...at 13 euros for 10 of them!!!! What was I thinking??? Why didn't I load up my suitcase or ship a ton of them home?? That's about $1.75 each! This soap is $6.00 each here in the US! Sheesh! 
And on the other end of the scale, there were truffles...at a little over $100 a pound. This is the kind you cook with that pigs dig up...not the yummier chocolate-covered kind. If you enlarge the picture, you can see that he has a very large one in a little cage on top of the boxes beside him and several displayed on the table. If you can't afford truffles, there's always truffle oil! 
Now this lady made me the happiest person at the market. Just look at my squinty little face! I went to France with a very short list of must-haves, due to a small suitcase and an even smaller budget. At the top of my list was antique Quimper ware. I knew it would call my name when I saw it and it did...
...with this pair of antique Quimper plates! I fell in love immediately. She wanted 60 euros each and, for the first and only time in my life, I managed to bargain. I offered 100 euros for both and she took it! That's about $135 for both of them!! I was dancing with glee. She looks pretty happy, too. Americans like these, she said in French. Maybe I was her only shot at a Quimper ware-crazed American that day. No matter.
I came away happy. The plates were stored safely away in my toile bag and managed to make it all over France and back to my house where they hang safely on the wall (of course) in my dining room. Sooo....a rather long explanation of how the French guy selling dishcloths was at the start of a glorious day! Now I would like to invite the following blogger friends to play, hoping that it will be fun:
Kathy at Emptynester
Dixie's Whimsy at Fench Lique, Texas
Michele at Beautiful Orchids
Nicole at Nicole's Treasure Chest
Please drop by to visit the blogs of these amazing ladies. You'll get to tour some amazing places, hear some funny stories, and find out how to make some really cool stuff!!
I would also like to thank my dear friend Sheila...affectionately known as Mrs. Magpie... at
The Quintessential Magpie for kindly giving me the Proximidade award. It is so appreciated and I ask her forgiveness of my tardiness in thanking her, as I have been under the weather for a few days. All I can say is...Right back at 'cha, Babe!!
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