I love shopping on trips. I never buy anything large but instead little things I'll use and plant throughout my house, particularly in my kitchen and sewing room. That enamel teapot came from Salisbury Cathedral. The ration book tea mug came from Bletchley Park. The gelatin leaves and treacle came from Sainsbury's. The Anne Boleyn coaster came from Hever Castle. The four bars of soap came from the Tiger store in Salisbury. The Mr. Bean teddy and Benjamin Bunny came from a shop in Convent Gardens. The pouch with the ladies in WWII utility dresses came from the Imperial War Museum and is totally going to go into my knitting bag. The tubs of hand cream and rollers of essential oils came from Boots. I got that awesome icons of London vinyl pouch at a shop in Windsor for just a pound and a tin of mints (the tin is the best part!) at the Houses of Parliament.
I got the "Motion" onesie at the Houses of Parliament, the Anne Boleyn eyeglasses cloth at Hever Castle, the London onesie and bib at Salisbury Cathedral, the London book and egg cup/toast soldier set at Westminster. The tin cup came from the HMS Belfast.
In Paris we were limited for time so most of what I bought came from the grocery store which is not a bad thing. I got 3 tin trays and a small Sacre Coeur painting up at Montmarte, a Metro map tray at the Trocadero stop, dried shallots, herbes de Provence, sea salt, a tube of mayonaisse (French mayonaisse is supposed to be so much tastier than ours--I'll test that soon when we get some artisan bread and nice cold cuts from Hyvee and have a taste test after the strike) , French green lentils, and several varieties of Marseilles soap from the grocery. I also got a vinyl canvas bag and a Chat Noir tin up near Montemarte.
We were so ready to leave the Louvre because of the crowds. It was amazing all the things they could slap the image of the Mona Lisa onto. In the end I bought only these three folios. I love them for organizing knitting patterns.
Something I always look for on trips overseas are these reusable vinyl canvas bags. These came from Tesco's in London. The penguin one is insulated. I am a hard core Aldi shopper and you have to bring your own bags or pay for bags in the store so these get a lot of use. Of course I was excited about the Star Wars bags too and got one for my brother in law as a gift. As you can see they often have seasonal or limited edition bags. I have an awesome bag from 2012 that says, "The Great British Summer" that I use all the time and it looks like a wicker hamper. The insulated ones are nice in the summer when you're buying dairy or chicken.
Iceland Foods was a chain I was unfamiliar with in England but they had shops all over and their green pea bag was sold all the time for 50p. I bought quite a few of them! They make great cheap gifts. The apple ones are from our grocery store in Paris. Dave said I should get rid of some of my old ones before I bring new ones into the house. I countered that I could cut the old ones up and sew them together to make a useful tarp! He just rolled his eyes.
I have long been a fan of Kusmi tea and in the airport in Paris there was an actual shop. I bought a tin of Rooibos tea and this glorious bag of all the labels.
I really wanted to try some Laduree macarons while in Paris. They are the Tiffany's of macarons. There was a shop in Convent Gardens and 8 cost L14.85. I didn't even attempt to find them in Paris because of the price. I'll give you that they package them beautifully. You'd think you were getting jewelery instead of cookies. But I'm not willing to spend that much on macarons. After I got home, in a stroke of extreme good luck, Aldi had these on as a special purchase for $4.99/box so I bought up about a dozen boxes and they are sleeping downstairs in my big freezer waiting for when we are all together. I've made these a few times but I haven't mastered them yet. That day will come.
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