After a year of renovating the house, I decided that I needed something else to do, so I bought a shop and named it Abigail’s boutique. I was now a commerçant (trader). Initially we thought of opening a chocolate shop and did a tasting trial at several suppliers 😋but as most of the boulangeries in France sell wonderful chocolates as well as bread and pastries, it would be too much competition. So instead, as I have a good eye for design and colour, I decided to open an interiors shop, selling everything for the home, including curtains, cushions, lamps, and some furniture. I filled the shop with items from various French suppliers, and I designed and made many of the soft furnishings.

The shop was a mustard yellow when we bought it and we decided to change the colour. We spoke to our fellow merchants who did the usual Gallic shrug and said no, it wouldn’t be possible as only certain colours were allowed. We spoke to one commerçant who had spent a year writing to the Mairie to change the colour of her shop and was still waiting. A very good friend who worked with the Mairie came to dinner one night and after several glasses of wine, told us to paint it on a Saturday evening because no one works at the Mairie over the weekend and it would be dry by Monday. Monday morning we opened with a blue shop.

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The street where the shop was situated was a busy area. Next to my boutique was a wine shop and Paps cafe. On the other side was a health shop, the huissier (bailiffs and house rental office). Opposite was another cafe and a tabac, an architect and a pottery shop – a really good mixture. Christine’s gallery was always a great place to visit in the winter as she had her kiln upstairs where she fired her pieces of china so it was always lovely and warm.

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I opened my shop around 10am and Miriam from the Cave du Vin would appear with a huge pot of coffee. We had a table opposite the Cave and we would sit discussing many topics. As the customers arrived, we would gradually disappear into our own shops to serve.

Around 12.30, all the shops would close and the restaurants would be busy. Flambé restaurant opposite was busy and there was always an ongoing war about spaces around each cafe or restaurant. No one could put a chair or table even an inch into someone else’s space and a shouting match would begin. I think my neighbour in the health shop spent most of her time at the Mairie complaining about invasion of her space. We never had any problems as we weren’t a cafe and kept well within our allocated outdoor space and enjoyed sitting back watching the “table wars!” vive la France 🇫🇷

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