tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18862674.post4675571148910978883..comments2024-01-12T00:24:35.544+01:00Comments on St Bloggie de Riviere: Window-ShoppingSarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13195684182481935384noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18862674.post-50599930275303305592006-11-23T16:47:00.000+01:002006-11-23T16:47:00.000+01:00With regard to Montpellier, there are boutiques in...With regard to Montpellier, there are boutiques in the old Medieval center, but the department stores are all in the Polygone which is a classic shopping centre. So, if you want to do straight-forward shopping, the centre has it all in one place, but you can also wander in the old town and enjoy the quirky things in the vaulted stone shops there.<br /><br />It is also completely closed to traffic so you are obliged to work.<br /><br />Some French women are skinny because they smoke rather than eat, and are all nervy. There are plenty of others who are normally covered, however, these days especially.Sarahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13195684182481935384noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18862674.post-68446862645532457022006-11-23T09:45:00.000+01:002006-11-23T09:45:00.000+01:00Am I right in thinking that British shopping centr...Am I right in thinking that British shopping centres are much more concentrated into one small area that French ones ? At the risk of raising an entirely different issue (ie cloned high streets) you do tend to have your WH Smiths, Boots, Next, etc all within a short distance of each other. In the French towns I've been too, the shops all seem mixed up with lots of other things, apartment blocks, services (medical, legal etc). Being diluted out means there's usually much further to walk if one is simply trying to do a shop.<br /> <br />Why this difference I wonder ? Does it represent a difference in the way the French perceive a town centre - for living in as well as for shopping ? <br /><br />Whatever the reason, is this why French women are rarely fat (or so they would have us believe) ? And why chiropodists and shoe repairers seem to make a good living ?sciencebodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12051016731274875332noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18862674.post-73830002987363046732006-11-23T08:21:00.000+01:002006-11-23T08:21:00.000+01:00I took the Eurostar in the summer and loved it, as...I took the Eurostar in the summer and loved it, as did the boys. It just so happened that RyanAir was cheaper when I wanted to go this time. A lot cheaper too.<br /><br />Unfortunately, it means that our return flight is at 6.05am which is so uncivilised as to be worth several second thoughts. Ah the joys of watching pennies...Sarahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13195684182481935384noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18862674.post-4202344530899889282006-11-23T05:40:00.000+01:002006-11-23T05:40:00.000+01:00I see that M+S have online shopping now (probably ...I see that M+S have online shopping now (probably been going for ages but I've only just discovered it), Unfortunately they don't send abroad for the moment but they are working on it.<br /><br />Watch out when you fly - it is impossible now! The other week when I was in England I had a carrier bag with me in Gatwick - my sister-in-law had put in a pot of damson jam - well that was consficated straight away, shoes off and then when I remarked that I was going to miss my flight (having been in the airport for 2 bloody hours fighting the queues), they then decided to search my handbag and tried to confiscate my fountain pen, incase I stabbed someone in the eye with it!<br /><br />It is just so awful that even if there are low cost flights I am going to look seriously at travelling by train - okay, it takes longer but the two hour check in now takes three, so that's already six hours lost, often one ends up in funny airports miles from one's destination (Geneva is okay as it's the only airport but Stansted for me for example is a good hour and a half's drive from my family - if the M25 isn't grid-locked).<br /><br />So when you pack the minute suitcase that Dan Dare allows you, make sure you put all your dangerous weapons in it and look at the contents of your handbag with a new eye!Louisehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08277397635514758674noreply@blogger.com