Sud de France, part 2 - Shopping

My second favorite thing to do in France is shop.  Partly, I love all the stuff I get to bring home, but I also just love the experience.  Sadly, I didn't take nearly as many pictures as I should have.  You'll have to take my descriptions at their word.

YARN

The Yarn Haul

For starters, let's talk about yarn (no surprise there).  Before getting to Montpellier, Mom and I researched yarn stores.  There were some she'd been to before and some were new to her; they were all new to me.

One my mom had been to before was Phildar.  It was interesting.  It's a clothing store that also carries it's own brand of yarn.  The front of the shop, and the display windows, are all clothing but if you keep walking towards the back, there are shelves full of yarn.  They had kits and patterns and bulk bags.  I didn't end up buying anything there, but it was certainly an interesting way to shop.

Next up was La Mercerie.  Perhaps this is the place to mention all these shops are in Old Town Montpellier.  That means they're in buildings that are up to 600 years old.  The shop fronts are tiny and I am contantly amazed at the amount of products (and people!) they can fit in such a small space.  this particular shop carries yarn and a whole array or "craft" supplies - buttons, embroidery supplies, and even fabric.  It was such a fun place to look around.  And they were having an excellent sale on some super-wash, lace weight merino, so I had to buy 12 skeins.  I've started a sweater with the red I got and I will finish it...some day.

Then it was on to Avant Aprés. This is a newer store.  It's very cute and near a beautiful church.  It carries a variety of yarn, fabric, ribbon, and beads.  I really enjoyed shopping there and picked up some great yarn.

Trumpe L'oiel painted on a building across form the church next to Avant Aprés

We also hit up Anne Ouverages.  It was closer to what I think of a yarn store, but still pretty small.  There was a large selection of fibers and weights and the people who worked there were all very helpful.

Lastly, we hit up the Katia store.  This shop sells only Katia yarns, but what a selection!  And they had paper yarn.  Let me say that again: Paper Yarn.  I couldn't pass it up, though I really should have.  I wasn't thinking clearly.  Paper yarn doesn't smoosh, so I had to take an extra carry on just to get it home (lesson learned).

Aigues Mortes

Circular Tower along the wall at Aigues Mortes

Aigues Mortes is on my family's favorite places to go.  It's a medieval walled city with a sea salt harvesting operation outside the city.  Though we usually drive, it turns out there is a bus that runs between Montpellier and Aigues Mortes for only €1.50.  We decided Mom and I would take the early bus and do some shopping and have lunch and Dad would take the later bus join us for a trip around the wall and maybe dinner, then we would all take the last bus back to Montpellier.

It was an excellent plan.  Except that, apparently, my timetable reading skills are lacking.  First, Mom and I tried it on Tuesday.  But it turns out, there's no early bus on Tuesdays, so we decided to try it again on Wednesday.  We got to Aigues Mortes and it was gray and raining.  AND there was some sort of festival going on.  Most of the restaurants and shops were closed.  We still managed to pick up the few things we wanted, soap and candy, but it didn't take us very long.  We found a place to sit and knit while waiting for my dad.

Eventually we walked out to the bus stop, which was conveniently located near the city's Boule court.  We watched the old guys (and some young ones, too) play boule.  But the time for Dad's bus came and went with no sign of either the bus or Dad.  Turns out, there's no late bus on Wednesday.

Old guys playing Boules, minus pastise

Mom and I, all shopped out from the few shops that were open, waited for the last bus to head back to Montpellier, where we met with Dad and he regaled us with his story of taking the bus as far as it would go and being surprised that it didn't go all the way to Aigues Mortes and then riding back to Montpellier.

There were a few good things about the trip.  We got to watch some Boules, we bought some soap and candy, and learned more about the bus system in Hèrault than we ever wanted to know

Aix-en-Provence

Side street in Aix en Provence

What crafty girl can go to France and not come hope with fabric?  Mom and I made the trek to Aix-en-Provence by train to hit a shop that Mom has been to before.  It was AMAZING.  Floor to ceiling shelves full of fabric!  I even got some hand painted sheep fabric to make myself some project bags for my yarn.

My goal is to eventually make a quilt in red and yellow Provençal themed fabrics for my guest/craft room.

French fabrics!

Paper Goods

I also have a love of several paper goods that I can only get in France - a certain kind of folder and gird-style notebooks.  We ran all over Montpellier looking for them and no luck.  But what I did find was the first 2 Harry Potter books in French.  Mom and Dad will have to continue going to France until I have all 7 books in French.  And then they'll have to start collecting the British versions for me.