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?

Dans le supermarché Waitrose acheter du lard fumé pour le "bacon butty" avec du pain blanc tranché. Délicieux!

Et pour accompagnier votre 'butty', le sauce brun est obligatoire!

at salade de thon etc!

Mais le Marmite est vraiment dégueu 🤮...I've yet to meet a French person who likes or even understands the existence of it. Especially on toast in the morning. They all love Cheddar even with the 365 plus French fromages to choose from

Gouda with cumin. It's to die for.

FWIW what I stock up on in UK supermarkets are Shreddies, shredded wheat, and readybrek

Merci for this thread. I’ve had a merde day but it turns out there’s no better therapy than making a French shopping list for my holiday next week.

Bonne vacances JoanC!

We're off there in Sept and I told DH about this thread. He said make a list. Quel idiot! We're taking the car and I'm already mentally reducing packing to accommodate 'the list'

I live on the border of France And Germany and was in Auchan today.

Have to confess to never having tried dop shower gel! Although having heard about the smells will be on to that ASAP.

Can recommend spéculos paste - like peanut butter but made from speculos biscuits which are popular at Christmas and have a ginger and cinnamon taste.

As expats we also do UK holiday shops! And there is always excitement at work when someone offers «to bring you something back from Tescos».

We always get pickle, marmite, lemon curd, cheese biscuits, marmalade, bistos best gravy granules, Brown sauce and mint sauce!

I love canele (little cakey things) and if you can find it, Pineau (not pinot, the grape variety), a type of liqueur made in roughly the same area as all the cognac makers, and which I've never found in the UK.

Also the lentils cuisinee, they're lovely!

...and still the list grows!

Thank you for the public holiday warnings - we go next week.

Am impressed with the fluency! Something to aim for... And I love that even ex-pats are finding recommendations.

Speculos paste is on the list (do you think they focus-grouped that name?).

Almost I bought some of that at Schipol airport years ago and still remember it fondly. Didn't know they sell it in France, thanks.

Campion I swear, if one of the DC wavers about going, it will take all I have not to encourage them to stay home and replace them with 48 bottles of French shower gel.

enabledlurker thanks for the tip about Auchan. I've been buying at Pharmacie Monge but will try Auchan first.

If you're in Paris, and feeling of a strong constitution, the pharmacie in rue du Four, in the 6th is the cheapest place to get nearly all of the French parapharmacie stuff (La Roche Posay, Avène, etc) . It is an utter zoo, though - entire busloads of Chinese tourists descend on it, so it's nearly always stuffed to the gills. Go as early as you can, it's slightly better.

Ooh I love the sound of spéculos.

Ha ha at replacing the DC with shower gel!

Je ne suis pas that fluent, though. Je make the best du francais I have, and stick a big smile on top when I'm speaking. I think people appreciate l'effort!

La Goudale beer, Affligem beer, cider and calvados. Not a drinker really, but when in France...

Speculos paste is on the list
Sainsburys sell it. It's very lush.

Dakatine is the world's best peanut butter. It has a 1960s photograph of a little blond boy on the label.

Merci campion!

I've told the kids we are going to wear ALL our clothes on the way home to make as much space as possible in the car.

Has anyone mentioned those little marshmallow bears covered in chocolate yet? Also the camembert flavoured version of the peanutty wotsit things are heavenly.

And last year I discovered packs of Bonne Maman crepes, individually wrapped with confiture in the middle.

You may not regret the shower gel swap Standstilling.
DS1, then 15, spent a fortnight in Brittany either in bed or plugged in to games. Apart from eating he moaned about everything. I swore I'd never go on holiday with him again. He swore he wouldn't go. Result!!

Shower gel brings pleasure and doesn't answer back. Just saying

Butter with massive chunks of sea salt in, I forget the name of it. I bring home about 20 packs of it every year.

I'm going in a few days and this thread has made me even more excited

Ada I will try Orval - is it generally available in Carrefour, etc?

Strange is that Citypharma at 26 rue du four? I can recover in the Jardin. I like that area :-) For some reason I like the left bank much better than the right for wandering. Will go early for sure. Pharm. Monge is usually pretty crowded, but I'm not in a rush.

Just over a month till I go - this thread is getting me so excited! (and my dd more morose as I read her bits of it - she's not coming )

Yes Justsay you will find it in supermarkets, try Intermarché if there is one near by. It's a genuine abbey beer, so the stock is never huge. It's always interesting to try these things though!

Can I just say DIM tights and underwear

Campion

is that Citypharma at 26 rue du four? I can recover in the Jardin.

Yes, that's the one.

I live on the right bank! I should take you for a walk around the 3rd, it's my favourite.

Oh I love a French supermarket! I wish I had bought the lime sirop that sounds great :(

I love loads already mentioned so sorry if I repeat anything!

Madeleines
Chewy sweets
Fruit tarts
Different flavours of magnums
Wine
Fruit flavoured beers
Lemon /lime Perrier
Rilletes
Celeriac remoulade
P’tit Marsellaise and DOP stuff
Mayonnaise
Apericubes
Giant babybels
Plain chipstick type crisps
The Belin Monaco crackers
Big cans of spray water - great when it’s hot!
Lillet
Creme de cassis/framboise
Pineau des charentes
Cognac
Schweppes lemon fizzy drink
Caffeine free fat coke