Quoi de Neuf: Shopping in March

Buffet car chic

Rail travel in France today is – for many TGV travellers at least – a very relaxing means of getting from A to B. But it is to the styling and designs of yesteryear, when journey times were even longer and the experience seemingly even more genteel, that SNCF has turned for its new ‘Grand Train’ range of gifts and goodies.

SNCF retro posters advertising various routes and holiday ideas have been popular for a while now but now the rail company has extended its online ‘shop’ to include items such as pin badges and tote bags.

The coolest addition to the list, however, is a collection of two Japanese ‘Bento’ boxes (for storing your lunch, either to keep it cool or to reheat in a microwave later) and a mug bearing the SNCF logo.

The first vintage lunch box is white and decorated with the first red SNCF logo of 1938 while the second is blue with a logo from 1967. The Bento box keeps food cool for five hours and is compatible with microwaves and dishwashers according to European standards. Price €23.90. Mug, €9.

magasingrandtrain.sncf.com

Scent of the South

Nyons in the Drôme Provençale is perfectly located to make use of the superb produce on its doorstep... especially when it comes to making soap. Essential ingredients such as olive oil, lavender and argile (clay) are readily available and of the highest quality.

Family business Savonnerie de Nyons is a local success story, with its wide range of soaps making the beauty pages of France’s top magazines. It is not just the marvellous scents and quality feel of its soaps that sell it – 1930s vintage styling appeals to shoppers’ passion for the feel-good elegance of yesteryear. €6.90 for 100g.

www.lasavonneriedenyons.com

All in the wrist

The great and the good, from Churchill and de Gaulle to current Prime Minister, Edouard Philippe, have been wearers of Lip watches. Recently, after 25 years of production abroad, the firm has brought operations back to its Besançon factory (Franche-Comté).

Initially, it chose a few classic models from the back catalogue to be reissued (such as the 1935 Churchill, costing €199) but has just launched the first new design in decades: the Sous Marinier, a sporty, water-resistant (to 200m) watch available in Blue, Black or Golden Black, costing €449.
www.lip.fr

Pay & Display

Original thinking in the world of Champagne marketing allows leading producers to catch the buyer’s eye and steal a march on rivals.

So how about this for a neat trick: buy six bottles of ‘red and gold’ champagne from Maison Gremillet and it will come neatly boxed up in a translucent carry case. Once home, however, it can then be transformed – with the addition of ice – into an ultra-chic display box to wow your guests with.

You can buy the case on its own for €120 or with the bottles for €350.The fizz itself is Blanc de Noirs made from 100% pinot noir, the leading grape variety of the Côte des Bar where Maison Gremillet is located in Balnot-sur-Laignes, Aube.

champagnegremillet.fr