shopping

We no longer frequent our local supermarket, Leclerc. They have constructed an airport of a parking monstrosity and, on exiting the new filling casino within its walls, we scraped our car on the invisible concrete barrier because the white line was also invisible. There was a veritable collection of car coloured stripes on the spot where we hit, and three days later, having realized their design fault, they built eight big plastic bollards to guide their errant drivers. May it have had something to do with the superb rant I produced in perfect french rantese? or the fact that I dragged the poor supervisor over, stuck her nose in a series of red and green marks? or that I forced her into the be-littered driver's seat (can a kinder bar wrapping really last that long?) so she could NOT see the while line? I think so. However, despite her compassionate "C'est un peu juste" they refused to pay for the repair. I am a awaiting a reply to my letter, which I will probably never get. They need neither our loyalty nor our money. there is a new sucker shopping in Leclerc every day.
So, we now go to market on Mondays, buy our wine from the producers (especially since seeing 'Mondovino'), and shop on other days in the beautiful 'Marches de Provence' which is a celebration of the vegetable, a collection of impromptu still life paintings and in which one can have profound conversations about cardoon recipes (I have the one with anchovies still to try) whilst waiting in line. It is here that Julian bought everything for his still life paintings for the Queen Mary 2 commissions and I intend to go in and show them the reproductions one day. Outside, naturally, the men play boules under clipped plane trees.
Unfortunately they do not sell red label chickens or bogroll, so we sneak into the other supermarket - Intermarche - for those things. You don't know that.



Today it is only 5 degrees but the sun is hot and I wandered onto an oak covered path marked by an orange sun at the foot of the Ventoux to see the lichen exhibition which is currently on show. It's the nearest I can get to ocean colour and seeing it is like drinking fresh mountain water (which we also have).