Wild and Free!

     Well, perhaps not strictly free, I'm yet to ask the owners' permission...

     I've mentioned before the abundance of weird and wonderful fruit growing around Aix- while at home we're surrounded by blackberries and maybe the occasional sloe, the South of France's climate and soil mean the local flora are just about as strange and foreign as the University system.

    

     First up is the humble fig. These are a long way off being ripe, but I always check them anyway on my way into Uni. The tree is in someone's garden but hangs over onto the road quite a bit, and, as my good friend Steph pointed out, for some reason smells like coconut. Both this and all the chestnut trees around make me a little nostalgic of my days as a Wwoofeuse near Alès.

     I think these are walnuts, although I don't have my Kernel Identification badge so my quick Google search will have to suffice for now. These were spotted on my way to the supermarket, again in someone's garden. As in many cities the furhter you get from the centre of Aix the more space you get for your rent money, and this person has clearly used theirs to the full with all the trees in the jardin. They had both this and, wait for it...

     Pomegranates! I'd never seen these growing before so had to stop and investigate. There are loads on this one tree, and again they hang quite far onto the road. Exactly how bad would it be to indulge in some pomegranate-scrumping?

     Last but by no means least, we have these strange beasts. Readily available in your local Dia, or growing in your local park, these are Figues de Barbarie- literally 'barbaric figs'. It's easy to see how they've earned this name since they grow on cacti, are covered in spines too small to be seen by the naked eye, and are filled with tiny pips, so they can do strange things to your digestion. Still, as the weirdest and probably most wonderful thing I've ever seen growing wild and free, I'm eager to try them. 

     Plus, it's not like one or two will go amiss....