The Tour de France was wonderful. I have never understood what all the fuss was about cycling, particularly on the continent. But to watch the pack go past at high speed was an amazing spectacle. The atmosphere was wonderful too, with families sitting at cafes all afternoon and then rushing forward – with stepladders from home at the ready – to see the Tour go by. For those who somehow missed it, the final stage was won by Mark Cavendish of the UK with a blistering turn of speed. Overall winner was again Albert Contador of Spain, so as a British woman with a Spanish name in a French city, I could be doubly happy.

This set me thinking about nationalities, borders and complicated globalisation stuff. The other night we ordered Sushi. The nice man who took the order was Egyptian. And the even nicer man who delivered it was Senegalese. So Japanese raw fish ordered by a British woman from an Egyptian, delivered by a Senegalese in a French city. I wanted to ask the nationality of the cook (well the sushi roller) but didn’t get round to it. Definitely not French though and definitely not Japanese either for that matter.

All this brings me to the impact of globalisation on individualistic designer maker jewellery boutiques. Here in Paris I am constantly on the lookout for new designer makers to inspire me. This is how I found my friend Petra Domling whose exquisite pale settings with silver and gold are rare in both taste and originality. Petra’s German though. Eleanor Ford, another designer I discovered turned out Eleanor to be based in London and visiting Paris. Only now she’s moved to Australia. Globalisation has it’s twists and turns.