For us, Daglan’s first-ever Fête du Printemps, or Spring Festival, began at 7 o’clock this morning. That’s when vans and cars began arriving in the courtyard called La Fontaine, right next to our bedroom window, and flower merchants began setting up their stalls.
There was a lot of opening and closing and clanking and chatting, but it seems it was worth the noise. Despite a gray day, the festival seems to have been a success, attracting not only a large number of merchants but, more importantly, visitors and shoppers.
Let’s have a look, starting with the stalls set up in La Fontaine:
Local products and a whole lot of flowers.
In our village’s main square, La Place de la Liberté, the weekly market would usually be taking place on a Sunday morning — with vendors selling vegetables, wine, sausages, honey, and other local products. Instead, today’s market was all about plants:
Plants, flowers, shrubs — you name it.
Looking towards the village church, you can see more racks of flowers and plants, as well as a ride for small children:
This view is towards the church.
One vendor was specializing in a wide variety of small trees and shrubs:
For sale, trees and shrubs.
In the centre of the square, just in front of the village bakery, there was a vast spread of colourful flowers for sale:
A bright array of spring flowers.
Included in the mix was this row of particularly sunny-looking flowers:
A row of bright yellow beauties.
The flower stalls were distributed all through the village. Here’s the view looking along Daglan’s main street from the central square, and in the background you can see more stalls near the mayor’s office:
Looking along the village’s main street.
But for us, one vendor stood out above all the rest — it was the young man selling the season’s first strawberries. This selection of gariguette strawberries comes from the nearby village of St. Martial de Nabirat:
A delicious selection of gariguettes.
Checking out gariguettes on the Internet, I learned that they can be ready to eat as early as May. Hah! We’re having some for breakfast tomorrow.
Radio Free Daglan 
Those strawberries look fantastic – grown indoors I guess. That looks to be a great market – Daglan seems be attracting more attention – no doubt your blogs and those of your English neighbours by the boulangerie have something to do with it! But what happened to your usual Sunday morning market?
You’re right, sort of, about the strawberries, I think. Typically they are grown under plastic in rows, but outside. As for the Sunday market, there were fewer stalls, but some of the usual ones were scattered through the village (along the street, down near the Salle des Fêtes. and so on).
I eagerly await the follow up article on the various breads available in the region. Titled Flour Power I am sure.
That’s a great idea, Keithster, and I’ll make a note to follow up. However, I already have the next posting in the series ready to go — it’s about the various kinds of French pickles, and it’s called Sour Power.
I really enjoy following your blog. My husband and I are planning a move to the area in a few years and your recounts and photos certainly whet the appetite!
That’s wonderful! Glad you like the blog, and even happier that you like the Greater Daglan Area. All best wishes for your planning, and eventual move.