Across the border shopping

Much like Canadians near the border flocked to Buffalo to go shopping, the Swiss near the border go to little towns in France to do their shopping.
It works both ways I've been told. The French come to gas up their cars, and the Swiss go to do their grocery shopping.
This past weekend I took the half-hour car ride across the border. There was no toll-booth, and they did not ask for my passport (good thing because another border hopper had forgotten hers at home).
We visited a small town called Pontalier. It was nice to not have to worry about switching to yet another language (a day trip to Bern was confusing - German part of the country, but everyone there spoke every language). Clothes were reasonably priced, especially since for the whole trip I was confused about the exchange rate of the Euro (I thought the reverse of what it was - I've always had a problem with this. My parents will attest to this fact.) So I went a little shoping crazy. I deserved it though, and in retrospect, sure I wouldn't have bought everything that I did (maybe just one or two items), but I'm happy with my purchases and I came to Europe to let loose and enjoy myself. Spending a little more money than I'm used to (which, as most people know, I'm TOTALLY a cheapskate) is fine. And honestly, the prices were still very affordable.
"Moules et frites" are my new "calamari". Calamari is my test food. I order it to determine how good the overall restaurant is. I like to call myself a calamari snob. So now that I'm in Europe, I've switched to "moules et frites". For the French challenged, that's mussels and fries. Yum! The only catch is that for the most part, mussels are cooked in wine sauce, and I'm not big a fan of that taste. I'll have to work on that.

I think I'll also become a "water snob". People don't tend to drink tap water here (or at least don't serve it at restaurants. One reason for that is that people tend to drink bubbly water. "Avec gaz" (or gazeuse). In Canada I hated that frou frou San Pelligrino stuff. But it's really growing on me.
They also sell "sirops" here. Syrups I guess. Like, flavourings. Red orange, strawberry, pear, grapefruit, etc etc. You can add the syrups to bubbly water. I guess it's similar to "italian sodas" that they sell in Second Cup and stuff. I guess I was thrown off by bubbly water because everything tasted like pop, and my mom has brainwashed me into thinking that pop is bad because it's full of sugar. So then I'm thinking that I'm just drinking sugar all the time instead of realising that it's just fancy water. The syrups are sugary though. Still, the bubbly water cause some mental issues.
There is the option of getting non-bubbly (sans gas/non-gazeuse) water, but most people get the bubbly. Often non-bubbly is more expensive, and if I'm already paying a whole bunch of Francs for water, I might as well get the bubbly stuff. Makes me think I'm at least getting something extra for my money.

As usual, I've gotten off topic.

Back to France. Shopping was great. I bought a bag! A good sized purse that's brown (not usually a staple colour for me, but good for fall) boucle type material.
Bags are FAB. I'm looking forward to buying more.
Lunch was moules and frites at a cafe that didn't want to serve hot food outside (it was a beautiful day) for fear that we'd complain the food was cold. We promised that we wouldn't. And yes, the frites were cold, but only because the pot of moules was so huge, it took so long to get through.
Then we make the trek to the grocery store (the main point of most Swiss' trip). Hyper U. HUGE!!!! Like, bigger than the huge Loblaws' that have been popping up all over Toronto (and in Kingston). It was actually overwhelming. (Perhaps because I haven't been to anything big since I left home?) Stuff wasn't too much cheaper, but of course the selection was tremendous. I stocked up on heavy stuff because I had a car. It's horrible walking up the hill home after grocery shopping. Reminds me of the 88 Wellington days when the trek home (on the weeks when it was my turn to buy the milk) was painful.
Bottom line is that it was a beautiful day, a beautiful little town, a fun trip, new clothes, a new bag, yummy moules, fun times, being in France, grocery selection overload...good times.

I hope to go again soon.