French supermarket and shopping recommendations

[Marronsandcamembert]

Off to France for the weekend staying near Dunkirk. I have a shopping list already- wine, cheese, liqueurs you can’t get easily here eg chestnut, walnut , Petit Marseillaise soap and shower gel, marrons glacé, olive oil, mustard, more wine.
what else do I need?? All recommendations welcome.

Dunkirk market looks great - first stop on Saturday, followed by a leisurely lunch and then a trip to the hypermarche

Confit de canard, definitely, bloody lovely stuff, and jars of peas and carrots.

Benedictina mayonnaise is my all time favourite and what I always stuff bottles of into my suitcase.

Any French skincare you like here is significantly cheaper in France such as Caudalie, La Roche Posay, Avene etc. Most pharmacies have lovely gift sets of skincare dead cheap if you’re thinking of Xmas presents.

I always buy Klorane dry shampoo as it’s less widely available here and I think the best.

If you suffer with dry lips then a tube of Homeoplasmine is essential. It’s Vaseline essentially but in a squeezy tube with boric acid added. The best lip balm ever and also good on scrapes and grazes anywhere.

All the Christmas chocs will be in store. Mon Cheri, Les Pyrénéens and Chardons are all highly recommended 👌

I would buy Dijonnaise, merguez, madeleines in large quantities, Pims raspberry flavour and Orangina with actual sugar in. Oh and some of those fruit cordials in the metal tins.

And then I would go mad in the stationery section!!

Take a cool box in the car for things like Merguez, butter, pates. There's also a really good chicken pate, in a black tub in the fudge section. Think it's labelled rillettes. We go through quite a bit of that on holidays plus really good salted Breton butter.

Mixa lip balms and body lotion. Supermarket brand but very good. Poulain hot chocolate. Crème de cassis/peche/framboise to put into Christmas fizz

anyone else sobbing, considering moving back to France ?

Fridge not fudge!!

Are you taking a cool bag? Buy ice.

Ready made cake mix
All the saucisson
Canned cassoulet and confit duck are surprisingly good
Most of the chilled Aperitif aisle

The answer is fairly obvious, @LondonPapa. OP is asking for suggestions of things to buy in France that you can’t buy in the UK or are better quality or cheaper in France that she can bring back home with her.

Frozen vegetables aren’t going to stay frozen even in a cool box. OP could buy a few fresh vegetables but only what she will use in a few days. France has a wider variety of tinned vegetables that are actually nice unlike most UK tinned veg and they last for years…

I would love to live in France because I speak the language well, and planned to do so, in the Loire, but the tax rules and the cost of living have made me think twice. French healthcare is superb, and if you choose to live in a well administered area, it all works. But if the local political atmosphere changes, and it can with one election, then the businesses just up sticks a few km to a more friendly borough. We went to the Lot et Garonne one year, just after an election, and the commune we stayed in had elected a strongly Socialist council. A few months later, almost every small business in that town had moved 4k down the road to the area that had not voted Socialist. That little town was thriving aqnd humming, with shoppers and tourists. The one that voted Socialist wasn't.

The cassegrain tinned ratatouille is the BEST! I’m a big fan of all the different flavoured Boursin that’s available too. If there is a local market the tomatine and tapenades are amazing.

Arlequin sweets

I’ve never tried tinned cassoulet, confit duck or ratatouille so they’re on the list!
I imagine the car will be laden for the return journey!

Good shout re buying ice!
cake mix? Not something I usually use - any particular one?
Definitely will be browsing aperitifs!

Little tins of creme de marrons (sweet chestnut spread). Amazing on a spoon pancakes or porridge!

Oh fab - definitely on the list!

Cassegrain ratatouille / courgettes / aubergines are very nice.

Agree with whoever said William Saurin cassoulet.

Also skincare brands like Caudalie, Embryolisse, Nuxe, Uriage: a lot of the range is available in big stores like Monoprix and cheaper than in pharmacies especially if you buy 2 products.

Cider. Lower in alcohol than British, delicious.
Breton cake. Breton biscuits. Local honey from market stalls
Any flavour of ricola cough sweets you can imagine from the supermarket.
Used to love shopping in decathlon for sporty stuff but that's over here now (and dropping in quality).
I'd say to have a good nosey in every bit of the supermarket, you just never know what you'll find.

I don’t know if you can get them in England, and they are easy to make from scratch, but savoury «cakes » in the chilled (apéro / traiteur) aisle are indulgent!

Gotta love a man on MN. Always with their sex in their name too.

Little packets of nibbles - emmenthal crackers, Roquefort pillows etc. Salted caramel in jars, noisette butter. Hand soap, PM is great especially the cuisinier one that gets rid of cooking smells!

I went loads to France as a child so most of my recommendations are sweets and snacks.... Loooove those mini pizza crackers.

Any of the sirop for squash - they don't ruin theirs with sweeteners.