dimanche 21 novembre 2010

Here's a short story

I was fortunate to have a short story accepted in an anthology of ex pat writers. It's about life in France. Hope you enjoy it. You can download the e-book free of charge, and I'm on page 70:
www.writersabroad.spruz.com

jeudi 11 novembre 2010

S is for Shopi

Sans rancune — No hard feelings

Shopi is the quaintly-named little supermarket in the small town where we live. It has everything you need (albeit at a price) and the bonus of a fantastic butcher’s counter. The butcher is very obliging, and happily takes the head, neck and feet off any chicken you decide to buy. Our welcome elsewhere in the shopi is not quite so effusive, but this may have something to do with the occasion when Gavin dropped a litre jar of tomato juice and the contents went all over the check-out counter and nearby assistants. (Isn’t it amazing how much a litre seems at times like this?)

We were somewhat surprised, therefore, in the week before Gavin’s birthday to receive a missive from Shopi saying a gift awaited him there to celebrate this auspicious occasion. After a quick rummage through our recycling paper — he accidentally threw the invitation away along with an old Radio Times and Heat magazine (you have to be grateful for what you can get here) — we went along to collect it.

The gift turned out to be a little silver cube with a peg mounted on it that you use to display a photograph or a postcard. Still, it’s the thought that counts.

Shopi also has a loyalty card scheme where you collect points to amass yet more useful gifts. We have so far claimed a memory stick that doubles as a pen (very useful), a bathroom set that holds your soap, toothbrushes and other essentials (not quite as useful, but very decorative) and a set of dishes (useful).

The town boasts another small supermarket called Casino. This establishment has embraced the diversity of its clientele and started stocking such delights as kettle chips, corned beef, baked beans and Branston pickle. Anyone who has ever visited France knows that Casino is the French equivalent of Sainsbury’s,Tesco’s or Wal-Mart. The uninitiated, however, have been known to track down Casino expecting to find chips of a different kind to the ones you put in your oven.