Although the village shops provide a good range of produce and the restaurant will accept your credit card, sooner or later you'll probably need to visit a bank to withdraw cash from an ATM or a supermarket to stock up on essentials. Both will involve a 10 minute drive, either north to Montpon or south to Ste. Foy la Grande. Alternatively, hardened shoppers may like to venture further and sample the joys of the nearby Hypermarkets...

Opening Hours - a cautionary note!

For those coming from the increasingly 24/7 culture of the UK, it's very important to realise that this is most certainly not the way things are done here in France! Most shops and businesses close for 2 hours at lunchtime (normally 12-2pm), very few open on Sundays at all, and of those that do, most are shut before midday - including major supermarkets and hypermarkets. Outside of high season and major cities you'll find it hard to find many restaurants open on Sunday or Monday evenings, and many shops and businesses take Monday off as well.

Note also that most, if not all, petrol stations will not be staffed outside of hours (other than on the autoroutes) and non-French bank cards will almost certainly not work in the automated pumps.

If you're expecting to arrive here at an awkward time and in need of food or other provisions, do get in touch with your holiday home owner as most will be glad to help you out and make sure your stay gets off to a good start!

At Ste. Foy La Grande

Leclerc - The largest of the stores in the town, Leclerc actually boasts two supermarkets on the outskirts of the town. On the road towards Libourne and Bordeaux you'll find the larger of the two - this one opens all day but shuts on Sundays, and sells a wide range of goods in addition to regular supermarket produce - you can even buy swimming pools here in the summer! Slightly smaller but still well-stocked, the store on the Bergerac road shuts for 2 hours at lunchtime but opens on Sunday mornings. E. Leclerc website

Others - In the centre of the town there's a couple of smaller offerings - a Casino on rue Victor Hugo and a Super U facing the end of the old bridge. There's also a slightly larger Intermarché by the roundabout just over the new bridge on the main road towards Libourne which opens on Sundays and closes at lunchtimes.

At Montpon

Intermarché - On the N89 towards Libourne you'll find the Intermarché superstore - another big shop that sells a wide range of goods over and above food and standard supermarket fare. Open day, closed on Sundays. Intermarché website

Others - In the centre of the town there's a small Casino

Hypermarkets

If you want something a bit bigger you'll probably find the huge Leclerc centre in Bergerac is hard to beat - you'll find it on the first roundabout on the road from Ste. Foy (or if you're coming from the airport, the last roundabout on the southern ring road. Offering a huge range of food, drink, clothes, electrical & white goods, gardening, jewellery - well almost everything! There are of course many others in the region, and your hosts will be able to point you in the right direction if you need even more retail therapy!

Cash Dispensers at shops

Supermarkets - Most of the larger supermarkets boast cash dispenser machines that will take most UK credit and debit cards. There is no additional charge levied for using these machines over standard bank charges.

Cash Dispensers at banks

Bank cash dispensers work in the same way as they do in the UK and should accept a wide range of cards, though Visa and Mastercard are most widely accepted. It's worth noting that if a card isn't working in one machine it's worth trying a different bank before ringing home - in the last few months a systems 'upgrade' at one bank caused it to stop accepting LloydsTSB cards for a while!

You'll find a number of banks scattered around the streets of Ste. Foy La Grande - they're easy to find and easy to use. Montpon has fewer - try the square on the eastbound N89 for Banque Populaire and Credit Agricole - the parking's free and it's a two-minute walk from the town centre.

Using French banks

To get into French banks you'll have to ring the bell and wait for the receptionist to click the door open. Many smaller banks have just one teller/receptionist - they rely heavily on automation for paying in and withdrawals. These days the easiest way of dealing with currency exchange and payments is to use your card extensively for purchases and make the odd large cash withdrawal - check with your own bank for details of foreign cash withdrawal charges.