Champion

We were invited to the social event of the season in Sommieres today. Champion, our new 'local' supermarket, had just opened and posted a big notice by the side of the road inviting a few selected individuals to view and buy all their goodies. It wasn't quite as select as I thought it might be, the place was heaving. There were long queues at every check-out. It looked as though people had decided to take their holidays there. It was ridiculous.

Anyway, we had enough time to conduct what we call 'the coriander test'. Jan uses a lot of coriander in her cooking and it is quite difficult to come by. If a shop sells coriander it comes high on the list of 'good shops'. We established that Champion doesn't sell fresh coriander. Bum. Having said that, the diesel was quite cheap, if you call 1.40 euros a litre cheap, and it looks like a store that we could use, especially when you realise you need something on Sunday morning.

Being curious I popped into Intermarché to see what impact it had had. The place was nearly deserted. They don't sell fresh coriander either. See what happens when you don't look after your customers.