Market day at San Francisco's Ferry Building

Market day at San Francisco’s Ferry Building

People across the globe love an outdoor market, especially when in a beautiful world famous city like San Francisco which holds a Farmers Market several times a week right beside the Bay. There is something special about purchasing hand grown, freshly picked flowers and produce; lavender, sunflowers and hydrangeas, beautiful wherever they are displayed for sale. These were at last Saturday’s San Francisco, Ferry Building, Farmers Market.

Standing beside my dear friend Michelle, we remembered fondly the last time we stood together at a market, 4 months earlier, 5000 miles away in our beloved Provence.
Lusciously ripe tomatoes, lemons, peaches, plums, cherries, strawberries, the sort that squirt their delicious flavor of summer into your mouth, all temptingly displayed and soon weighing down my market basket at San Francisco’s Ferry Building.

The sun warming our backs, tantalizing smells of coffee and freshly cooked hot sandwich fillings, a gentle breeze coming off the Bay, we were enfolded as part of the bustling crowd, shuffling down each market aisle against the stunning back drop of San Francisco’s Bay Bridge.

Canopied under a cornflower blue, cloudless sky, set against a backdrop of the breathtaking San Francisco skyline. On one side the proud soaring, skyscrapers of the city and on the other the gently lapping waters of the Bay dominated by the Bay Bridge.

The San Francisco’s Ferry Building opened in 1898 becoming the transportation focal point for anyone arriving by train to the city. From the Gold Rush until the 1930s, arrival by ferryboat became the only way travelers and commuters—except those coming from the Peninsula—could reach the city. Surviving two earthquakes (1906 and1989), the Ferry Building has been restored to its original grandeur as one of San Francisco’s most cherished landmarks. Inside it is a marvel of tempting produce.

There is so much to tantalize at San Francisco’s Ferry Building, from small olive oil producers, bespoke cheese makers, charcuteries the most incredible mushrooms and wonderful breads!

So inspiring to look at the hard work and craft from artisans who succeed in making a living by following their passion, producing the highest quality of specialist culinary delights.

Seemingly so far away from the broad, leafy shadows of the trees shading the market sellers in Place aux Herbes, Uzès, yet actually not so far. People who appreciate sumptuous, fresh produce mingling together in markets across many different continents, including San Francisco and Uzès, joined by a shared desire to savor and create superb flavors and taste. What a lovely way to spend a Saturday morning, wherever you may be!