13th October, Our Village St Alban de Varese

It has turned suddenly bitterly cold in the last few days (it reached 7° yesterday) so we can imagine what it's going to be like in a month or so when winter starts and snow will be on the ground.

Our village has quite a busy little town center with retail commercial activity in full swing this morning (Sunday).

The charcuterie / boucherie /  traitereur / epicerie / produits bio (deli / butcher / pre cooked takeaway / grocery / organic vegies) plus post office, liquor, gas bottle refills, etc was doing a brisk business as he is closed this afternoon and tomorrow and people stock up on fresh food. Today's takeaway is "Tomate Provençale" and BBQ'd chicken.

Charcuterie etc

The boulangerie was also open this morning selling fresh bread, pastries and cakes. Some people tell us they do not like the local pain (bread) but we quite like the crispy baguettes.

Boulangerie

The largest retail outlet though is the Cave a Vins (wine cellar), which is the local liquor store but it is also a purveyor of  fruit, vegetables, canned goods, bread (when the boulangerie is closed), deli products such as saucisson (salami), fromage (cheese), gossip and pheasant (under the counter) when in season.

Cave a Vins

The village also boasts two coiffures (hair dressers), and a medical center including a visiting podiatrist, GP, dietician, physiotherapist and dentist, restaurant and bar, driving school, the retail dairy with the "raw" milk and beautiful cheeses and of course the primary school (every village has one).

The village church and restaurant alongside

I dare say a lot of intra village swapping, bartering and friendly neighbourhood sales of homemade and grown products of all descriptions also assists the economy. But as the villagers  say " we have to trust each other", which I think means "what goes on in the village stays in the village"

 View looking down the main street

Route des Alpes