Shops Wisely

Today’s typical weekly pattern is more likely to be a trolleyful from the supermarket - Auchan, Carrefour or Monoprix, a leisurely weekend market trip and two or three small top-ups at local specialist shops on the way home from work, the school run or yoga. The majority still queue for their daily bread, although these days the precious baguette will often be branded Gana, Poujauran or Banette, studded with sesame or poppy seeds or made with organic wholegram flour. I live bang in the centre of a small town just on the edge of Paris, Saint-Ger main-en-Laye, metres from a fabulously stocked Monoprix. My kitchen is so small and their opening hours so long that I treat the place as an extension of my cupboards and fridge.