L'épicerie - 18/03/2007
A Sunday morning trip to the shop
Normally, on a Sunday morning, I take a walk to Lanouee, visit the lcoal shop to buy a few things and then go to the bar to have a beer and read the paper.
Today, however, was different. I bought a car last Thursday (a new Bessie to replace the ailing, old Bessie), and thus, decided to go for a little drive. I ended up at Le Roc St. Andre, about 20 kms from where I live. There is a great boulangerie at Le Roc and so I bought a still warm baguette - one of their special ones, with added seed - a bargain at 1 euro. I then went to the little market (I mean little, only four stalls) and bought one and a half kilos of oysters for my Sunday tea.
Realising that I would need a salad to go with it (and some lemons, as well), I went to the local épicerie and stocked up - I even remembered the catfood!
Trundling home in the new Bessie (at a ridiculously slow speed - the countryside is too pretty to miss), I realised that I had forgotten to buy any tomatoes. Now I am a bit picky about tomatoes (to say the least) - there was only one thing for it, I'd have to go to the Épicerie by the canal in Josselin. The tomatoes there are always good. However, there are drawbacks with visiting that shop. "Just tomatoes", I repeated to myself as I drove there. "Nothing else."
Eventually, I got there (see the photo, above - click on the picture to see a larger image - don't forget to click on the back button on your browser to return here). Oh, I'm sorry if you were driving the BMW behind me - just because you can do 90km/hr, doesn't mean that you have to! If you (in the BMW), want a real driving experience - try slowing down, looking out of the window and give yourself a real thrill (P.S. Hooting your horn only causes me to slow down!)
A Deep Breath
I said Hello back and we had a little chat about the weather - great, last week, now getting rather chilly!
Knowing the risks, I dashed straight to the vegetable shleves and selected my tomatoes. As it is a very interesting shop, I took a little wander round. That was my mistake - I should have known better!
"Have you bought a paper, Monsieur?" The owner asked.
"Have you seen this Bordeaux, Monsieur? On special offer. Very good value" She suggested.
"What are you eating today? Oysters - take a look at this wine. That'll go perfectly with Huitres."
I ended up buying 3 bottles of wine (for a corner shop, the range and quality of wine is superb - click on the photo above to take a look - don't forget to click on the back button of your browser, to return), some lovely Emmental cheese, a whole host of other things that I didn't really need and then, just as I was getting ready to pay... "Have you seen this Calvados, 20% off. You do like Calvados, I seem to remember, don't you?"
Thus, what should have been a 2 euro shopping trip cost me 38 euros!
Paying for it, To keep it.
I do know that our local corner shops are more expensive than the supermarkets but, knowing that, I usually buy less when I shop at one and thus, save money. This obviously doesn't work at L'épicerie by the canal at Josselin but, elsewhere, I can manage to do my Sunday morning urgent shopping without spending too much. I won't be bombarded by those 3 for the price of 2 offers, I won't be tempted by something that's on special offer and I won't be tempted to fill up the basket on the gounds that it will save me time tomorrow.
Of course, by spending some money at my local épicerie - I am helping to ensure that it always stays open - and that's a nice knowledge to have when, on Sunday morning, I find that I am out of cat-food or need a bottle of wine for my evening meal.
