It rained today! so we decided to do our shopping and headed for Montpellier’s out of town shopping area – Odysseum.  The biggest store there is IKEA so we did ‘the walk round’ and managed to find the placemats and garlic press that we were after as well as some festive red serviettes and some nutcrackers.  We had a salad and sandwich lunch at La Brioche Dorée, mooched about a bit and then entered the wonderful Géant Casino supermarket – Derek reckoned it was the best supermarket he’d ever seen.  It was like Harrods food hall but without the silly prices or crowds.  There was a whole sushi section with chefs thinly slicing raw salmon on the spot and the deli area was fabulous with all sorts of ready made everyday and gourmet treats – amongst them some mousse made into duckling shapes and some baby pigletty things that I didn’t care to look at too closely.  Derek succumbed to well priced champagne and I found the Patak curry paste and sauces I’d been searching for – we managed to spend 70 euros even though we’d been to Intermarché yesterday to do a big shop.

We couldn’t help comparing our easy day here to Xmas shopping in Stratford with all its traffic jams, parking problems, crowds, queues and bustle.  They just don’t seem to make as much fuss in France or maybe they’ve just got more space.  Anyway, we will try to be festive on the big day – we have a poinsettia, a panettone and too much Christmassy food to fit in the tiny kitchen – we’re having to store it in the spare bedroom – at least until Danny gets here, then he can start eating it!