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In a day where Walmart and Target, or even Amazon, have taken over with one-stop convenient shopping, it can be really refreshing shopping the old fashioned way.

Makenna’s dance class is in the neighboring town of Chamalières and I love walking around the small town center.  You can literally go from shop to shop to purchase your food (and desserts) for the week and then pick up some flowers from the flower shop before you stop at the pharmacy.  There is a boulangerie for bread and pastries, a macaron shop, a wine shop, a shop for prepared food, a market with in-season fruits and vegetables, a fish shop, a butcher and a cafe to stop for a drink after you’ve finished your shopping.  Of course there’s a hair salon and a bank, so all of your bases are covered.

I love the charm of seeing people walking around, usually the “regulars” who make their boulangerie run on Wednesday morning or those who stop at the market several times a week for fresh produce.  I, myself, have become a Wednesday morning regular who stops at the boulangerie for multi-grain bread, and usually a treat for Makenna, and then a coffee before I have to pick Makenna up from her class.  I do miss the convenience of the big box stores, but I’ll soak up this small town shopping while I can!