On the ‘Highway to L’

<Photo of a shop front in Thones, France >A shop popped up in both La Clusaz and Thônes recently called ‘Highway to L’. I guess they’re AC/DC fans because French people tend to leave off the ‘h’s when they pronounce English words. In fact, ‘Highway to Hell’ is a song that I can never sing with ‘h’s anymore after hearing a French cover band singing ‘I’m on de i-way to ell’ years ago.

When I first saw the sign, I wondered what sort of shop it would be. My first thought was a driving school: being on a highway with L plates made sense. However, in France, L plates are A plates.

My next guess was almost right. I wondered if it was a clothes shop for big sizes. Even in France, clothes are often marked as S, M and L ‘Highway to L’ seemed like a decent way of saying ‘find suitable clothes if you’re not in that skinny category’. However, I was wrong.

Highway to L is actually a clothes shop for all sizes. I’m not convinced the name would prove popular in English-speaking countries. It seems to be doing alright in France.

In fact, the shop has had a bigger impact on some of us than expected: I’m sure I’m not the only one who starts singing ‘i-way to ell’ every time I drive past.

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About

I'm a technical author, journalist and writer from Australia who has been living in Europe since 2000 and exploring the world from there. My passions are writing, snow sports and travel.

3 Comments on “On the ‘Highway to L’

  1. Ha ha ha, so glad you explained that because little old slowpoke me didn’t get the AC/DC reference at first. I’m gonna be singing that all weekend now, especially as I’m travel two Iway to Ell’s this weekend up to Liverpool.

  2. Thanks Mandy! I hope your Iways to Ell weren’t too busy and that Liverpool was fun (there’s another one – I can’t think “Liverpool” without imagining the Liverpudlian accent with it).