The January Sales
With the credit crunch beginning to bite, John Hillman offers us all with a touch of advice about how P&O Ferries can help out with the post Christmas blues
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A January shopping binge is essential to our wellbeing as northern Europeans so don’t let the global financial crisis stop you.
Shady characters with sub-prime morals may have done their best to ruin it, but in these times of crisis we can still rely on our British maritime traditions to get us out of trouble.
Cross the straights of Dover with P&O Ferries and you will find a treasure trove of booty so cheap you’ll feel like your thieving pirate ancestors must have done, as you load it all into your car whilst cackling with hearty laughter.
Prices really are so good that the cost of a day-trip will still allow you to return home quids in, with the added satisfaction that British supermarket bosses and their recession proof infinity-pounds-a-minute profits won’t be coming from you this year.
But even if you prefer British supermarkets, you’ll still find all the major ones in Calais offering you everything you need for a touch of bargain shoppery. For example, Champagne and wine is between 50% – 70% less expensive than supermarket prices in the UK.
Choice is another reason to use P&O Ferries as your 2009 credit-crunch crusher.
Calais is so much more than a place for Brits to buy cheap booze; with as many French and Belgians heading to the huge shopping facilities around the city, you’ll find an enormously choice of goodies on offer to satisfy the gourmet in you. Stock up on cheeses, fois-gras and other wonderful delicacies that would normally cost you an arm and a leg back in the UK.
Those of you really interested in good local produce should take advantage of the regular weekly markets, which often sell organic food straight from the farmers themselves.
Place d’Armes on Wednesday and Saturday mornings, and Place Crevecoeur on Thursday and Saturdays, are excellent markets; places where you can browse past stall after stall of intersecting colours and aromas. Shop ‘till lunch then enjoy some of the finest seafood in a traditional Gallic eatery.
Some good advice is to try and go in the week if you can as Saturdays can be extremely busy, although the bustling Saturday atmosphere is probably a bit more fun if you’ve got the energy for it!
Indeed, although many people see Calais as either a place to buy cheap alcohol or somewhere you drive through on your way to your holiday home, there really is no reason why you can’t make a bit more of it.
Although the city was pretty much destroyed during World War II, there are still some interesting sights to take a look at while you are there. The renaissance style hotel de Ville is about as impressive as town halls come and the nearby statue of the ‘six burghers of Calais’ is well worth a look too.
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