We are staying in a wonderful apartment that is totally convenient to everything that matters, especially the local organic farmer's market that operates right around the corner three days a week. And we had to shop for last week's meet-up.
On my last trip, my sister, Bairbre, discovered the Chicken Lady. Her birds were raised in a real barnyard, where they ran around, had fun, scratched for worms right from the ground, and clearly had a great life before winding up on her rotisserie. Melt in your mouth amazing! But then we found this trip's big treat - Olive Guy. And he taught me a lot about how to treat customers.
The sign on his stand reads "Maison Naouri Jules"
There was a line of people waiting to buy his olives when we got there, so we had to be patient. It paid off big time when our turn came!
- He gave us a big smile and welcomed us to his stand with a firm hand shake.
- He listened to what we wanted.
- Then he started to ply us with samples of his wares.
- His stuff was died and gone to heaven amazing! He had tampanade that was just - words cannot describe - with both black and green olives. He had tiny stuffed red peppers that weren't too hot but had a little kick a couple of seconds after you swallowed them. Then, there were the olives stuffed with anchovies - fresh anchovies! Not the canned stuff we are used to. And there was more. So I guess you could say he had a wonderful product.
- He really knew his olives.
- He had a great attitude and clearly loved what he was doing.
- He knew about how to get repeat and referral business. We went back twice and plan to share this with the agents in my office who come here.
The whole idea of taking a vacation is to get recharged and ready to get back to business upon return, and this guy was great for my batteries. He was just the perfect picture of someone doing a job really well on all fronts. It's fun to find inspiration when you aren't even looking for it.
Perhaps not so fabulous for my waistline, however!
P.S. The market is just above the Rennes Metro, at the corner of Rue de Rennes and Rue Raspail.
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