Self catering in France for two weeks

[Offtofranceforfirsttime]

In a gite. What shall we take with us (car) and what shall we buy there (supermarket 10 mins drive)

have never done this so appreciate any good list sharing/ any tips!

Have been warned wifi patchy, first on list is a ton of board games 😂

😁 I also take my mini blow torch for the supermarket creme brulee

We bring loo roll, kitchen roll, Tupperware, some clips to hold open packets together, dishwasher tabs and washing machine tabs, one packet of pasta and one jar of pesto in case we can't get to a supermarket on the first day, tea bags, coffee pods, oil and vinegar - general all packed in a tub which we can then use.

Picard is brilliant, particularly for the sort of party snacks Waitrose and M and S do at Christmas.

Noooo French cordials are AMAZING! You just use half what you would squash

My favourite decaf teabags.
Sherbet lemons for journey.
Bottles of water, bananas, mini cheddars, quavers, breakfast bars as snacks on journey.
Toilet roll in case we don't shop on first day or toilets on non toll roads don't have them. Wet toilet paper.
Empty Chinese carton with dishwasher tablets and clothes washing pods to save me buying whole boxes in France.

You can buy food in the supermarket in France. Lovely pate, different cheeses to eat, gorgeous French sticks from the bakery and DH loves the almond croissants. Look for the exquisite desserts in the supermarket. Meat is expensive in France.

I bring home loads of Ultra brite toothpaste as I can no longer get it in the UK and lots of bottles of BBQ sauce (Amoura) I can never find in the UK.

Agree French cordial is fabulous. We buy La Maison Guiot pamplemousse rose, delicious!

We bring our own tea and coffee. Wouldn't bother by your own oil etc but maybe washing powder/pods if you don't want to buy a huge pack (or just take what you buy home again). We (naughtily) bring our dog's food over (via eurotunnel - no one has asked or checked) but usually we drive with snacks and drinks and go to the supermarche once here. But yes many open limited hours on a Sunday, usually close at 1pm. Also beware many shops close for 2 -3 hours at lunchtime (except supermarkets) so plan accordingly when you're here if you want to go out browsing in shops.

French supermarkets are fab especially the huge carrefours. There really is no need to pack tonnes. Food prices, however, have increased a lot since last summer.

Why anyone wants to go to France and eat Weetabix and Cheerios, squirt Tommy K on their food and drink orange squash is beyond me.

I disagree with the previous poster about not needing a tag. It is so much easier and avoids queues. I agree with a pp about bog roll for some of the Aires.

If you have calpol resistant babies/toddlers I always recommend stocking up on infant suppositories. Game changer.

We usually take bbq tool kit, large roll of foil and sharp kitchen knives as well as the seasonings etc mentioned above.
We then hit the supermarket for everything else for the first 4-5 days or so.
We always come back with loads of supermarket brand syrups (way cheaper) and Orangina.

If you have calpol resistant babies/toddlers I always recommend stocking up on infant suppositories

True. Although mine are now 10 and 8 and would be a lot more resistant to a suppository 😂
While at the pharmacy, get some Apaisyl gel - best anti itch treatment for mozzie bites I’ve found

Yes you don't need a peage tag but it makes life much easier.

Cereal- french selection not great
Baked beans- non existent or v. expensive
Loo roll
Kitchen roll
Baby wipes if you use them
Foil/cling film
Tea bags
Pasta
Rice

M&S do some particularly nice meals in tins such as chilli, bolognaise, curry... They are useful for an easy meal especially on arrival day. We didn't take these last year due to the new rules but no one was remotely interested in checking so we are risking it this year.

I also take bleach, antibacterial wipes, washing up cloths, scourers for bbq grill, washing up liquid and stuff to wash clothes

French supermarkets great for lovely cheap wine, crisps and snacks, pasta sauce, jam, cheese and yoghurts, fresh meat and fruit/veg. Also shower gel!
If you have a look in the freezer section, they sell bags of sliced potatoes mixed with garlic and mushrooms- you put them straight into a frying pan and heat them up- they are really nice! (They'll be near the frozen chips)

My 2 boys also love the chocolate milk in the little glass bottles. (Buy them off the shelf then put in fridge)

We tend to survive on croissants, bbq meat, salad, bread, cheese and pate!!

We ran out of sun cream last year and found the supermarket stuff very expensive- I'd advise you take enough with you...

Have a great time 🇫🇷

Toilet paper as someone else said for the journey down & hand sanitiser as travelled this week & one stopping place had no tap water to wash hands. If you're planning on doing your own cooking rather than eating out, based on our experience bring a couple of big saucepans as we're stuck with 2 tiny ones for a family of 5! Also look for your nearest aldi/lidl as the small supermarket nearest us is unbelievably pricey. We also had paper maps as the satnav can steer you a bit wrong. Also bring a few dishwasher tablets/ washing powder if you have those machines in the gite. Otherwise enjoy it's perfect here today.

If you are driving from Calais to Toulouse - it's a long haul. Are you stopping over? How old are your DC? Ignore suggested driving times and work on the basis of about 50 miles per hour overall, plus stops. Have you sorted your route?

Another thing - that you might / might not be aware of is an emissions zone in Toulouse and needing a sticker if you are driving into it.

LEZ - Low Emission Zone | Tourism in Toulouse (toulouse-visit.com)

@DiscontentedWoman Picard is amazing! We have it here in Belgium too and it's like the Waitrose of frozen food! Amazing quality, huge array of fancy stuff and normal frozen food. Not cheap tho but worth every penny!

So many great tips

thanks so much

Thank you @belge2 that's brilliant to know! It's going to be shite weather for the first 10 days at least so knowing I can do some Low Effort Self Catering is great 😃

Oh yes for long drives my favourite French motorway service station meals are Paul (for baguettes, especially the salami ones) or Courte Paille (steak/burgers).

Admittedly not much help if you are veggie…

@DiscontentedWoman med-long range forecast is notoriously inaccurate. In 3/4 days it could change completely. Hope it’s sunny for you!

@DiscontentedWoman I always described Picard as Iceland meets M&S. So I wasn’t surprised when M&S started stocking some Picard lines!

I live in France. From the UK I would bring tea bags, breakfast cereal if you have a firm favourite (e.g. no Shreddies, Crunchy Nut Cornflakes, plain Cheerios), Marmite, baked beans, peanut butter, sliced bread. Also some sachets of stir fry sauce are useful and hard to get here. Plus salt and pepper, seasonings. In my local supermarket I paid 4 euros for a jar of peanut butter. Baked beans are 3 euros a tin.

I also like to have dishwasher tablets, laundry tablets, tea towels, knife, kitchen scissors, chopping board cling film, foil, food bags, clips to seals bags of crisps.

When driving down through France I also try to be self sufficient with lunch and bring rolls from the UK and stop in a French supermarket on arrival to top up with cheese. The food at some of the aires isn’t great, especially on the A20.

The boulangerie in my village are on holiday for two weeks from next week, although there will be another boulangerie in a nearby village open. I find that the fruit and vegetables are generally better at local markets than in the supermarket. Beware that there may be many stalls that only accept cash.

I hope so 😁 thank you. It looks much the same at home for the moment! 🤣

@Offtofranceforfirsttime

FYI the Toulouse zone mentioned above is a bit of a political hot potato and most of the locals have the impression it's not really monitored or policed...

However I guess we have to be aware of it so a couple of points that might be of interest if you have to touch the peripherique (three lane main ring road) at all going to or fro from your gite.

The main one being that for reasons that almost passeth understanding the map in the link posted above is correct in showing a segment of the western section of the ring road (specifically the bit adjacent to Blagnac - airport/suburb of the same name) is in the zone...Secondly there's no obvious signage of you entering the zone....possibly one reason why there's not much monitoring going on either. That may change next year.

BTW I'm not sure of the context of some comments about the weather upthread ...I may have missed something but it looks good for this part of the world for the foreseeable future, fingers crossed.

My favourite type of holiday. We love going shopping there so bring nothing more than pukka tea, a corkscrew, playing cards and oil/salt/pepper and anything that needs using up in the fridge.
We did a French road trip for a few weeks last year and bought a plug in cool box got the car, that was brilliant.
If you eat meat, steak hache is beautiful but we’ve found the frozen ones better than the fresh most times!
Huge big packs of fresh prawns for about 6 euros in the big supermarkets.
Fresh baguettes every day, they don’t keep. Why you’d eat sliced bread while in France is beyond me.
Gorgeous, pale rose for about 4 euros a bottle mmmmm.
And the cheese! And the pâté! God take me back, only been a month since I was there and I’m having withdrawals thanks to this thread!
Have the best time!

Nooo, don't buy sliced bread, that's sacrilege. Just get a boule, polka or something like that from the supermarket if the local bakery is shut. Toasted with butter and then Bonne Maman Intense jam. Its the law

Aldi is really expensive where we live, I wouldn't bother with it. If you can't get to a local market or village stall, Grand Frais do good fruit and veg, plus meat and fish. Also excellent for cheese, and they often do samples. Agree with a previous poster that supermarket fruit and veg really aren't very good, soft fruit is often bruised or even mouldy.

I'd bring teabags, but not coffee as there'll almost certainly be some sort of coffee maker in your gite, and you'll be able to buy the right coffee for it from a good range.

Have you got a crit'air sticker? You'll need it to go into Toulouse I think.

Have a fantastic time.

Sorry, started my last post hours ago and see that the crit'air sticker has been mentioned now.