We were staying near the little village of Isigny-le-Buat, near the Normandy-Brittany border. It was nearly time to leave France and that meant one last visit to the Carrefour to stock up on a few bits and pieces before catching the ferry from Cherbourg to Ireland. So we used our trusty Google to find the nearest Carrefour hypermarket, and off we went to Saint-Martin-des-Champs.

The French know how to do family shopping in style: the children were delighted to find not only a merry-go-round in the car park, but also that the local Société Nationale de Sauvetage en Mer (National Society of Marine Rescue) had set up a display in front of the supermarket – children could ride on a real lifeboat.

WBB mamas are afraid that our imminent return to the usual humdrum supermarket shopping experience will be a sad let-down for our boys.