As I’ve documented in previous posts, we really enjoy wandering through European outdoor markets. Shopping for fresh produce and other foodstuffs for the week – whether here in Geneva, or nearby in France’s Ferney-Voltaire or Divonnes-les-Bains (thought by many to be the best of them all) – remains one of our favorite things to do on a Saturday or Sunday morning.

And speaking of remains, check out some of the only-very-recently deceased main course critters being offered for sale. (Warning: if you are an active PETA advocate or otherwise troubled at the notion of dead animals, I invite you to skip this blog post.)

This first image isn’t too bad. For whatever reason, we don’t seem to find the idea of displaying recently caught dead sea creatures to be all that disturbing. But if you look closely, some of those fish don’t look too happy about it. Neither does the squid nor the octopi. [Note: according to grammarist.com, octopi, the supposed plural of octopus, has no etymological basis since it comes from ancient Greek and not Latin, blah… blah… blah… However, even though the use of the word “octopi” can’t be justified on an etymological basis, it’s use is not grammatically incorrect because the term has been in common use long enough to be considered an accepted variant. Plus, it’s a lot more fun to say.]

Here’s some dead sea creatures, including multiple octopi

Okay, we’re just getting warmed up here, so once again, heed my warning from above: skip this post if you find images of complete carcasses of animals that you typically buy packaged to less resemble their natural state upsetting.

Here are some dead turkeys: “Do you prefer white meat, dark meat, or the head?”

Okay, and I’m serious now. It’s time for the children to leave the room. Go ahead, I’ll wait.

Don’t ask me why, but evidently some people prefer their rabbit stew to taste like the whole rabbit, including its fur coat. Seriously, why would anyone buy a bunny rabbit, only to have to take it home and skin it yourself? This is the 21st century after all. Same deal with the pheasants toward the rear in the photo. They come complete with feathers, no additional charge.

Be prepared to find some hair in your Hare Stew

Who in their right mind buys these animals in such a state? I hung around for several minutes just to see if any other passersby showed any interest, and none did. So I suppose the answer is: it “remains to be seen”.