Vive La France!!!
I love France, always have.
The food, the shops, the space....
Of course the beers cheap too, and around the visitors pontoons at Cherbourg Marina the leafleters were up early making sure any boats sporting a red duster had a few 'cheap booze' offers thrown in the cockpit before breakfast. Being English we natuarally chose the English owned 'Majestic Wine & Beer World' where all prices were in Sterling and all brands were familiar. We loaded a trolley full and with a sporting offer of a free taxi back to the Marina if you spent more than €100, we made sure the boat would be well ballasted on her journey back to the land of ridiculously high taxes on alchohol.
Our
taxi driver was a doll. She was about sixty, had white hair and knew everyone
in the shopping mall we were in, waving shouting and being aknowledged by an
extraordinary number of people as she led us briskly to where her taxi was parked,
illegally around the back of the building.
During the short but quite rapid journey she took three calls on the mobile phone and then she drove on the wrong side of the road...these Frenchies eh? They were all doing it. Mad they are!
Her 'piece de resistance' however was driving over the large grass park instead of round it, and then getting air off the kerb at the other side. We landed in a cloud of dust and gravel right next to the top of the walkway to our pontoon. 'Voila' she said with a huge grin.
The idea that people might just at any time of day enjoy a coffee or a beer and a chat with friends or to sit alone but we English have that don't we. The pub, the public house, the boozer? Well although not every pub in England is a dark cramped smoke filled hovel where the phrase at 'any time of the day' means it will probably be lightly spattered with unemployed alchohics letching at the underpaid bar staff, the English pub is hardly a suitable environment to stimulate a sense of community.
Then there is the food. The butcher, the baker the candlestick maker, all present on the French high street. French bread goes off in a day! Its not a complaint its a fact, but why?
Because in France you go to the bakers every day, possibly grabbing a coffee at a cafe before going to work.
Where are the rows of small village shops in England?
They are still there of course, but now they are a video rental shop, an over priced off licence, a chinese takeaway and of course a late opening Spar... selling a limited range of rotting vegetables, two hundred varieties of cigarettes and three packets of vacuum packed ham.
Of course we can use our cars along with everyone else in the country to drive to the local twenty four hour hypermarket which will be rammed packed with everyone trying to fight over the last few broken french sticks because the bakery department shut down an hour before half of England finished work and headed straight for the supermarket.
The French Carrefour in Cherbourg is a fine example of an English Hypermarket, a heady mix of B&Q, Tescos and a perfectly chosen selection of Marks and Spencers food thrown in for the more discerning shopper... But they are French so they are all discerning shoppers when it comes to food.
The
Fishmonger section had a 9' long dinghy packed with ice and laid with gutted
Atlantic Salmon. There was everything from freshly caught shellfish to huge
Tuna and swordfish steaks. A display of such magnitude I have only rarely witnessed
in England and never in Tesco, Sainsburys or even Waitrose.
The charcuterie was awesome as was the cheese counter... Only the food hall at Harrods outstrips it for range and quality, but sadly not on price.
The Carrefour brand have a hypermarket at Calais which I have visited regularly when I lived in Kent and could nip across to France on a saturday morning on the cheap return ferry, and I know that their smoked meats and selection of fine pates are significantly cheaper than Mr Al Fayeds Knightsbrige alternative.
Finally though the one comparison that stands out above all others... The Tesco Extra hypermarket that I visit regularly when at work is heaving at all times of the day and at its lunchtime peak is little short of a battle ground with trolleys the principle armament. Carrefour Cherbourg on a Tuesday lunchtime was quiet and pleasant to shop in and although the checkouts were busy the aisles were a fine example of peaceful serenity.
Ahh Francais! Where the food is good and supermarkets are not the sole focus of everyones attention.
