Summer Weather, Artists and La Crise, Tuesday, 29 December

Spring has arrived, if you can imagine spring in the Northern hemisphere in the middle of winter. All the cafe terraces are pumping with people sitting outside enjoying a temperature of a mild 12 degrees. Up on the Place Du Tertre all the "artists" were out spruiking for business and being well rewarded for their efforts during this spring weather. The bad news is that snow is forecast for the end of the week and the day before we depart.



The winter sales do not start until the 6th of January (twelfth night) and at the moment the papers are all asking why the delay in light of the financial crisis (La Crise). The papers are also reporting that the French are very pessimistic about the future in light of La Crise; a view which has been expressed by a number of economists including some friends of ours who believe we are now only at the start of a serious financial fall rather than at the end of it.

Ignoring the financial bad news and taking advantage of the good weather, we walked down to the area around Abesses to do some vegetable shopping. Even in the small shops food is beautifully displayed. We bought beans from Kenya, blueberries from Argentina and raspberries from Spain. The quality and variety of fruit and vegetables here is quite incredible. Even a small shop such as the one we went to today will have at least five different varieties of mushrooms. While it might be possible to get such variety in Hobart, it would require going to a specialist shop whereas here, just about every greengrocer will have such a selection.