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A double handle or a single handle. That is most pressing question when it comes to deciding which French markets tote to purchase, because the easy question to answer is, Do I want a French Market tote? And in my life, the answer is an emphatic YES! 🙂
The second question is easy to answer, but sometimes finding a French market tote if one isn’t in France is difficult. Functional and simply lovely, the classic French market tote is ubiquitous at every market in France (see the image below). Stacks upon stacks, hanging in abundance, and so much so that the choices become a Francophile and market shoppers paradise. However, upon returning to the states, finding such a market basket can be a treasure hunt as they are difficult to find.
~Post to read: All you Need to Know About the Markets in Provence
But no longer does it have to be difficult to find the basket you want if you a trip to France isn’t in the near future, nor does it have to be expensive. I am so excited for Olive & Branch to be a sponsor of this year’s French Week because it was last year during French Week that I discovered Pam Plançon’s online shop, and she graciously introduced herself and offered to sponsor the following year’s annual French Week.
Founded in 2004, Olive & Branch has been providing beautiful European and French made products for their discerning customers to welcome into their homes and everyday lives. Priding themselves on offering quality French or French inspired products, their prices are excellent (similar French Market totes are sold for far more online), and they are dedicated to superb customer service. Most of their items from their shop are direct imports from France as they travel to France often to shop, source and enjoy the culture that is their adopted home making sure they can bring the beauty of France to shoppers around the globe.
Olive & Branch offers many wonderful baskets beyond the two showcased here today, as well as many other unique and beautiful decor items. For all TSLL readers, O & B is offering a special discount of 15% off your order when you use the promo code TSLL.
Giving away one French market tote to a lucky TSLL ad-free subscriber, the winner will be able to choose from two of their most popular baskets (see below). And again, the most pressing question is: Do you want a double handed tote or a single, long handled tote?
~Olive & Branch long handled French market tote (12″ x 18″)~
For awhile now, I have been contemplating this very question, and it wasn’t until I had the opportunity to use a tote with a double handle that I made up my mind. My experience took place in Louviers when I attended Susan Hermann-Loomis’ cooking class this past July. During the last day of the class, she gave us a guided tour of the market and then let us roam about on our own. Asking her the very question I had been pondering, she said, “Well, try them out.” She had one of each and a few more, and so I did. And my decision was quickly made: the double handle would be perfect.
Let me explain. When I head to the market, the market tote is empty, and carrying such a light-weight basket with the long strap over my shoulder is often cumbersome because it flops about, falls off my shoulder, etc., etc.. So it is when I am heading to the market and before I purchase my produce that I prefer the short handles to hold onto as it weighs next to nothing. However, once I have my produce, being able to place the long strap over my shoulder distributes the weight better and makes the rest of my market exploring far more comfortable and less straining on my arm. Again, this is just my two cents, but if you too have been curious as to which basket would be best and you only had one basket, just a few things to consider. After all, if you are a TSLL ad-free subscriber, you may just have to make this decision. 😉
To all TSLL readers, while this an exclusive giveaway, I did promise there would be five giveaways during this year’s French Week. We have already had three (here, here and here), and this particular giveaway is additional and is not part of the five. There will still be two more giveaways to come in the next three days, so be sure to stop by. As well, there will be an additional giveaway exclusively for TSLL weekly newsletter subscribers and will only be disclosed in the Letter from the Editor that is sent to subscribers’ inboxes (it will not be shared here on the blog). So be sure to subscribe to the weekly newsletter as well to be able to enter that giveaway (the newsletter goes out each Friday).
Now to the giveaway and how you can become a TSLL Ad-Free Subscriber to be able to enter to win.
- Choose between a monthly or yearly subscription
- View what an ad-free reading experience of TSLL would be like here.
- You can cancel at anytime with the simple user log-in and access to your account.
- The monthly or yearly subscription fee is deducted automatically from the source of payment you select on the date of the month you originally subscribed (so if you subscribed today – August 15th, a monthly subscriber would see a deduction each 15th of the subsequent months – September 15, October 15th, and so forth; yearly would see their next deduction after today – August 15, 2019 – be on August 15, 2020).
- For a limited time as a special promotion during French Week, if you sign up today through Saturday August 17th, you can receive an automatic reduction in the monthly ad-free price.
- Use promo code FRWK19 to pay a reduced monthly price of $6 for your ad-free subscription (regularly $6.99). The discount will continue each month automatically.
- HOW TO ENTER!!!!!!
- If you are already a monthly or yearly ad-free subscriber, simply email me (info@thesimplyluxuriouslife.com) from the email address that is associated with your subscription or leave a comment below once you are logged in.
- Indicate in your email/comment which basket you would prefer: double handle or single long handle
- If you become a subscriber today or anytime this week, follow the instructions in the bullet point just above.
- Enter by Saturday August 17th at noon Pacific Time.
- The winner will be announced on Sunday August 18th here on the blog in the final post of TSLL’s French Week.
- If you are already a monthly or yearly ad-free subscriber, simply email me (info@thesimplyluxuriouslife.com) from the email address that is associated with your subscription or leave a comment below once you are logged in.
- Bonne Chance!
~UPDATE 8/17/2019, noon: The giveaway is now closed. Thank you to all who stopped by and entered. Be sure to visit tomorrow (Sunday August 18th) for the final post of TSLL’s French Week which will share a round-up and the list of winners.
Learn more about Olive & Branch
- Visit and shop the website — Olive & Branch
- don’t forget to use the promo code TSLL to save 15%
- View all of Olive & Branch’s baskets
- Follow Olive & Branch on Facebook
- Follow Olive & Branch on Instagram as she shares where her travels take her (currently Pam is in France! See a recent post below)
TSLL’s 4th Annual French Week posts thus far . . .
SUNDAY August 11th
- Welcome to TSLL’s 4th Annual French Week!
- 7 French Candles I Love & A Giveaway! – giveaway
- Visiting Musée d’Orsay and Impressionist Berthe Morisot’s Exhibit
MONDAY August 12th
- NEW podcast episode – #257: An American Being Everyday French – My Interview with author & writer John von Sothen
- The World, Large & Small, Illustrated for Your Home, Kitchen and Life: A Modvin Paris Illustrated Giveaway – giveaway
- 5 New-in-2019 French Lifestyle Books I Have Enjoyed
TUESDAY August 13th
- Q & A with Heidi Wynne on Scarves, Effortless Style and Classic Films
- 11 Helpful Tips for Visiting and Shopping at Marché aux Puces de Saint-Ouen in Paris
- A Simple Everyday Luxury: A Gien Mug, giveaway, — giveaway
WEDNESDAY August 14th
- Attending Susan Hermann Loomis’ Cooking Class in Louviers, Normandy
- 9 Places in Paris I Recommend for Dining, Sleeping, Exploring and Finding the Perfect Croissant
THURSDAY August 15th
Hello Shannon I am absolutely loving French week. The double handled basket would be a lovely, treasured reminder of holidays in Provence. Best wishes Sue
Thank you Sue for your support of TSLL. I always appreciate your comments and emails. 🙂 Bonne chance. xoxo
Hi Shannon. I would prefer the double handle for exactly the reasons you mentioned. I’m so enjoying the weekend farmers markets in Michigan this year. Thank you for all your encouragement and inspiration.
Regards, Georgette
You’re most welcome Georgette! And thank you for your support of TSLL. Your time and interest is deeply appreciated. Bonne journée and happy market shopping. 🙂
Hi Shannon! Would love the double handle! Sincerely enjoyed today’s podcast and am enjoying listening to all the previous ones. I’m back to 2017 now and dreading the day I’m all caught up!
Thank you so much for your inspiration and all the joy you have brought into my life by discovering you!
Thank you for checking out the podcast Mary. I am tickled how enjoying it so much. And thank you for supporting TSLL. Bonne chance!
I would absolutely LOVE to win a tote. I am already an ad free scubscriber
Thank you for stopping by and so regularly as well Laura! Your support of TSLL is greatly appreciated. 🙂 Bonne chance!
What a fantastic give-away! And, oh so french. The double handle basket takes me back to the markets found throughout France. TSLL posts and podcasts inspire and transport me to my “happy place”. Thank you Shannon!
Being transported means you have beautiful memories to savor! How lovely! Thank you for your support of TSLL! And bonne chance!
I would chose a double handled market basket. I love being an ad free subscriber!
Kim
Thank you Kim for your support of TSLL! The double handled is lovely, and I do think you would like it very much. Bonne chance!
I love the versatility of the double handle. How clever!
The double handle bag would brighten my world! ?
I am so glad you are enjoying your basket! It looks great and I know it will be well-loved. Thank you for including me as part of French Week!
Thank YOU Pam! 🙂 Your treasures are wonderful and I am tickled to have Olive & Branch as a sponsor. 🙂
I concur with you, and all the others, it is absolument the double-handed basket!
So practical— and chic! And thank you, Shannon, for, not just this give-away, but, sincerely, the gift of your blog. I really do mean that. It is a treasure I look forward to, a respite of erudition, calm, and un petit peu de savoir-faire. And you have enlarged my library quite a bit, and my TBR list! It is my pleasure and honor to be able to subscribe to the ad-free edition of your most lovely blog. Merci beaucoups!!
Rona, thank you so much for your support of TSLL and active engagement. Your comments are always constructive or celebrator, in other words, always forward thinking and positive. Thank you.
The giveaways are all wonderful! Now the market tote that is universal. What clever items to offer everyone. Once again so excited to get the chance to win — fine, sturdy product.
I love the tote bags and have never had one like those. It would be a real treat to win one!!
They are wonderful – simple and understated but exactly what one needs. Thank you for all of your support of TSLL and your continued interest and time. Bonne chance!
Love the double handle. Please keep me posted.
Will do! Thank you for your support of TSLL. Bonne chance!
what a treasure this would be to have! I now have time to spend journaling and the double handled tote would be the best to pack everything up to take to the coffee shop and spend time. thank you for these opportunities.
Thank you Pamela for your support of TSLL. 🙂 Your description sounds like a lovely way to spend a few hours. Thank you for sharing. 🙂 Bonne chance!
French week has been a joy to read each and every day! You have outdone yourself.
It would make my day to carry my teacher gear in that tote for the new school year. Fingers crossed.
Thank you’d to your support Linda of TSLL. That sounds like a lovely way to add a touch of France to your everyday. Bonne chance!
Beautiful, classy and a simple luxury for my trips to the Farmers Markets. A double handle would be lovely. Love the podcast for my drive to and from work. Thanks so much.
Jeanette, Thank you for your time, interest and support of TSLL. It is very much appreciated. ?
Those bags are gorgeous. The double handle version would be a treat for all the reasons you state. Practical and chic.
Your French week output had been superb Shannon. Meticulous research as ever.
Shannon, once again you have made French week a wonderful experience. I would love the double handled tote! So special.
I am so happy you are enjoying the week Nanci. It has been fun to put together. Thank you for your support of TSLL . ?
The double handled one is just perfect!
Thank you Michaela for your continued support and interest in TSLL! Bonne chance!
Hi Shannon – I’m at the 11th hour here, but I think I still have a few hours to enroll/comment. I would love the double-handled tote. I am enjoying French week, but it has coincided with a very busy week at work, so I’m just now catching up. Thank you for all the wonderful posts.
Bev
Bev, always lovely to that you have stopped by. ? Thank you for all of your support of TSLL. You are in time! Bonne chance!
Enjoyed french week and would love the double handle tote so chic!!
They are lovely, classic baskets. Thank you Lynn for the support of TSLL and good luck!
Double handled, please! I love your weekly newsletter. I get fashion and decorating inspiration plus a good deal of food for thought from it.