parfums d'hiver (and silicone bracelets)

The Amiens Christmas Market is in full swing now. A full half of the width of the pedestrian rue Trois Cailloux is taken up by the huts selling various edibles and gifts, making it actually dangerous to cycle down and threatening the already-fraught relationship between cyclists and pedestrians. A couple of fairground-style rides are set up, too, so covered in lights that they make me think of the Trocadero on mushrooms. Similarly surreal are the speakers, running from the station all the way to the Hotel de Ville, piping out the same Christmas music. Disneyland on Valium.

I have to give the toy stand a wide berth; crowds of children after school flock to spend their pocket money on rubber bracelets that come in various shapes. It's a phenomenon that seems to have come to Amiens in the last 2 weeks. Before the vacances I don't think I saw any, but suddenly every other child seems to have a few, more than a few, or two solid armfuls of multicoloured silicone that reform themselves into shapes once removed. Even one of my teachers has a few - every time she catches a kid playing with a bracelet, she confiscates it and wears it herself. I wonder how long until these are banned in schools in the UK... anything popular enough is eventually, right?