To market, to market to buy a fat hen..

But not this one!  We wanted to replace our lovely grey hen, unfortunately killed by a trespassing dog, so we decided to re-visit Lezay market. This is a very large market about half-an-hour from us, noted for its livestock sales. This time, we learned from experience and got there at 9.30 to find the market in full swing. Last time, we turned up at 11 and found it largely packing up. Be warned if you want to visit it.
   And, by George, it`s worth the visit! There were every sort of fowl you could imagine, together with many you wouldn`t have. There were cocks and hens, ducks and geese, quails and peacocks, parrots and budgies and even, to our great surprise, a bird that only one person in Britain can legally own (and that person is the Queen)---a swan!

Apart from these avian offers, there were the animals.  Goats, rabbits of all varieties, lambs and guinea pigs and even something which caught the eye of Mrs Noah, a pygmy pig!! I had the greatest difficulty in persuading her not to add this creature to the Ark`s passenger list and she spent ages stroking the creature I am sure it would have spent cold evenings on her knee and what would Fatima, our Muslim friend have said.... Well, we avoided this scenario, and went to find our hen.
The vendor didn`t have any full-grown grey hens but did have some large chicks, so as these were only three Euros apiece, we had two to allow for wastage!

The vendor put our purchase in a special cardboard box and we left it with her while we browsed the rest of the market. There were flowers, vegetables, edible produce of all sorts, most produced locally. there were even eels, both raw ( and alive! ) and grilled, ready to nibble. We could have bought a couple of baguettes and enjoyed an unusual snack, oh, yuk, yuk, yuk, as Alyson would have said!

 Anyway, leaving behind this dubious gastronomic delight, we went on to buy a couple of tomato plants and a small penknife of Corsican type, doubtless made in China, though. Still, it was one I don`t have in my collection and I was very pleased with it. Collecting our hens, we returned home happy with our morning at the market!



 Bye for now, we are going to check that the existing fowls aren`t bullying the newcomers,