L'Archipel des Mots, Gex

Very friendly secondhand bookshop and cafe.

There are lots of books in English for adults, quite a few for children and a dedicated shelf for people trying to learn French that includes not just text books but dual text novels and “easy” novels.

The cafe isn’t cheap but it is good and very relaxed - you can linger over a cup of coffee, reading a book or one of the local papers.

They also have small exhibitions by local artists and hold evening talks but as these are in French and on literary subjects I haven’t dared go to these yet - maybe if I keep reading the books from the “Learn French” shelf I’ll be able to one day!