Fall Pumpkins and Gourds in the Market

The French may not celebrate Halloween, but it is traditional for them to grow – and sell – pumpkins and gourds during the fall season.

Many are sold for food – in fact, pumpkin soups are very popular here and I’ve got some great recipes to share with you in the next week or so.

But they’re also sold for decorations.  (I have a little glass bowl filled with some of the smaller pumpkins and a couple of decorative gourds that I bought here at the market.)

This is another thing I love about this time of year on the French Riviera – the colors.  Right now the green sea of vines has been replaced with a crazy quilt of colors – and when we go to Saint Tropez this weekend, we’ll be passing some of the best known and most beautiful vineyards and I’ll take some pictures to share with you, so you can see the colors for yourself.

We’ll probably still buy a big pumpkin or two, so the kids can paint or carve it.  One year we put our pumpkins out on the balcony, but we’re on the fourth floor here, so we don’t think anyone except our neighbors across the street really got to enjoy them – and if they don’t know about Halloween, they probably wondered what we were doing!

That’s one of the things that you should take into consideration if you’re planning to move to France – the difference in the customs and holiday celebrations.  The French celebrations are very different from what we do in the states, and sometimes, especially if you’ve got kids – that can be difficult.

Of course, there’s alway the advantage of being able to experience the best that another culture has to offer, and living here, in one of the most beautiful places on the planet – makes up for a lot of trick or treat candy. To me at least!)  Maybe not so much for the kids…

Tags:Fall pumpkins and gourds,French Riviera Open Market

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