Not been to France for years - what's good in French supermarkets?

[Standstilling]

Indulge me - I am off to France soon with the DCs and LOVE a foreign supermarket. Am idly planning and looking forward but I need some specifics. Do they still do those peanut flavoured wotsit things? Obvs cheese and wine... what else is good?

MERGUEZ. MERGUEZ. MERGUEZ.

Ahem.

As you were.

Duck in tins here too!
Madeleines
Petit Marseillaise refills
Wine obvs.
Stationary
Random bits from the home wear aisle. One year big iron cooking pot, another year - jam jars !!
Tinned beans that are in some kind of stock??!! Amazing for quick soups etc.
Tissanes
Dried mushrooms
Pearl sugar
Chocolate
Sirop
Suze

The list goes on - am missing France- we are off to Cornwall tomorrow to camp in the rain 😥

Which part of France will you be in? I've bought this before when we've been in Brittany and it's divine.

DH has bought many bottles of cidre de Bretagne this holiday. He downs one in no time flat saying ‘it’s only just over a pint you know! Also dried ham has been a staple. I’m actually a bit sick of it after ten days.

Some things are really pricey though. Roll-on deodorants are nearly €4 each!

Ohh,love this thread! Off to France tomorrow and I love a good hypermarket! Our kids love those mini hotdog sausages in tubs in the refrigerator aisle - totally synthetic but what the hell, it’s the holidays!

Not making the same mistake as last year tho as nappies were soooooo expensive compared to what I buy online so I’ve taken plenty

Giant tins of potato dauphinoise
Carambars (as already mentioned)
Pastis 51
Celariac remoulade

(ok, my shopping list does not look balanced or healthy!)

. . . and most importantly the shopping bags. Every town will have its own design bags with images of local sights and places of interest, I have a huge collection!

Tins of Salsify. I love that vegetable!

Etino merci! But oh no! We arrive a dimanche! Merde. Maybe we will go straight from ferry to supermarket.

Fruitpastille I had wondered but didn’t really want to ask about the prices. Still, c’est les vacances 😊

Has anyone mentioned Poulin hot chocolate? 'Tis very good and under 3 euros for a massive tub! Beware the lid doesn't fit well though so best to leave sealed, decant or bag up if you're taking it home!

And Tessiere for full sugar 'syrop' in a massive range of flavours. I like citron vert and grenadine.

Lindt is Swiss but still not a bad price in France - I got 2 x 100g for 2.39 in intermarché this week. The fleur de sel is nice and the one with caramel pieces.

Generally stuff is much more expensive than the UK though in my area LeClerc is the cheapest but intermarché and carrefour are better quality.

Geoff and then there was the time DM fed us uncooked merguez for lunch not realising they weren’t like salami How we laughed on the way to les toilettes

Sirop de citron, sirop de cassis and notebooks wth squared paper.

Pearl sugar, suze? Googling...

Le petit marselleise would be top of my list. I also found good cotton underwear of good quality for the price (out bags had not arrived in same flight....) and browse for beach and baby stuff if appropriate....

I followed the Paris Style and Beauty thread for a while but felt like an outsider to all the stylishness. But this thread has all the je ne sais quoi I need. I have come home.

Fancy food in tins! My shopping list is huge. And thanks to you SweetLathyrus I won't be taking my own shopping bags.

Suze28 Brittany. What was it you bought?

It's a gorgeous salted caramel sauce and I bought it in the Intermarché at Lanvallay nr Dinan

Would anyone know if any French supermarkets happen to stock Hagelslag? Yes i know it’s Dutch but I mentioned to Ds that we’d eaten it in France with Dutch friends and he’s desperate to try it!

Can't believe nobody's mentioned? Petit Coeur biscuits - I lived on them during my test abroad!

And definitely square paper notepads - why are they so much nicer to write on than lines? I found an old one the other day and had a lovely nostalgia moment...

Mmmm, love salted caramel. Thanks Suze

Comte cheese! And butter with salt flakes in. Amazing. I could spend a week in a French supermarket!

Tesseire is available in Waitrose. Not all the flavours but many are. Lemon, elderflower, framboise, pink grapefruit..... I know cos I might have 4 in the fridge right now....

Boxes of frozen spinach and cream. I regularly check the freezer at Sainsbury's just in case they have seen sense and decided to stock it.

Bottles of lime sirop. Tastes amazing in a gin and tonic.
Savon de Marseille laundry liquid from Super U. Smells like Sunlight Soap.
I did buy a violet sirop this year, but its a bit too floral for me. I'll try it in a Martini at some point.
La Petit Marseilleise (?) lemon verbena shower gels in bulk.
Little tins of pork rilettes
Agrume sirop which is orange, lemon and grapefruit. Tastes like liquid boiled sweets.