An American in Provence

One of my favorite hobbies has always been (well, since the age of 10) crosstitching. Here it is called broderie (embroidery) or point de croix (crosstitching). For the moment, it isn't particularly easy to find the necessary materials, but I believe it is becoming more popular. Women here seem much more into crafts such as the yarn stitching (like for pillows), knitting, embroidery, beading, etc. Quilting and scrapbooking are slowly becoming popular as well.

Last year I went to an arts and crafts exhibition (same place as the Marseille Fair, but much
much smaller.) I think I saw two men there. Most of the stands were for needle arts, but some painting, wood working, children's crafts, etc were available. There is only one specialty crosstitch store in all of Marseille (that I know of). Other stores, such as "Loisirs et Creations" have crosstitch sections. They mostly have kits only or projects such as crosstitching on towels, purses, baby bibs, etc. The regular old DMC thread that is 25 cents or so at Walmart is about a dollar and a half here, and they usually don't have specialty threads, such as metallic thread. Crosstitch fabric is available, and some patterns can be found or else special ordered. I ordered some fabric and thread from an online US store, and it never arrived. I asked them about it, and they sent another package with never arrived either. I guess both either got stuck in customs purgatory or arrived at some bewildered person's door. They refunded my money, which I thought was good of them. Each time I go back to the US (all of once so far) I take an inventory of my supplies and stock up. Also, my dear mom has been kind enough to send me some things I need, mostly threads.

Other supplies, such as beads and buttons to adorn crosstitch designs, are also very hard to find here, or else very expensive. Some online French stores are getting in on the act, but the price still isn't comparable to the US.

I think if I could have five US stores magically implanted in France I would choose
1) a good crafts store such as Michael's or Hobby Lobby (would have been so nice while wedding planning!)
2) a good bagel store, like Bodo's. I don't see why the French don't like bagels. They like other bread. I have heard that there is one in Lyon. A pilgrimage may be necessary.
3) Bed, Bath and Beyond
4) A good bookstore, like Barnes&Noble. But not with the French versions, English please.
5) A Super Walmart or Target. Yes, there are large all-in-one stores here, such as Carrefour, but they don't have the products (cosmetics, chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, other important things in ife) that I like.
Yep, I think those five stores just about sum up my life.