Shopping list for week's stay in French gite?

[DomesticGoddessInTraining]

We (me, DH and 22 month old DS) are off on holiday next month and have booked a gite in France.

We arrive on Sunday and there'll not be many shops open till the Tuesday but the owner will do some shopping for us if we give a list in advance.

It's our first holiday away since DS was born and we've never done a self-catering holiday so would be grateful on some tips from some wise MNetters on what essentials we need to put on the shopping list. We're flying with Ryanair and therefore don't have a massive baggage allowance so want to minimise what we take.

If it was just me and DH I'd just ask for bread, cheese and wine

Find out whether there is anything at all in the gîte - some places clean out totally between clients so you would need salt, pepper, sugar, oil, toilet roll etc.

If the basics are there you will just have to decide what you want to eat for the 2 days (ie do a menu) and take the list from there.

Thank you - none of those items had even occurred to me. I clearly need more help than I thought!

I have my equivalent list from two years ago:

Nappies
Wipes
Bread (not baguettes as they don't keep. You may well find that there is a village bakery open for at least a few hours, although finding out what those hours are may be tricky)
Dried Pasta
2 x Pasta sauce
Jam
Coffee
Wine/beer
Cheese
Ham
Bananas
Carrots
Courgettes
Apple juice
1 litre milk
6 eggs
Butter
Yoghurt
Cereal

But we were having a whole pre-cooked meal delivered on the Saturday evening and could do some shopping on the Monday, so weren't having to cater for as many days as you.

We also knew we'd have loo roll, salt, pepper, oil and basic herbs and spices available. I agree that you should check about those -- you don't want to buy them yourself for a week's stay if you don't have to.

Thanks for posting your list ProfessorLayton some good basics there. I think we're going to order in the first night too which will make things easier.

Will email the owner and find out what's included.

Ok, I've heard back from the owners and they provide:

Tea, coffee, sugar and jug of milk. Red wine, bread, cheese & salad. There is also a couple of toilet rolls, a couple of dishwasher tablet, salt, pepper, vinegar to get you started and fresh herbs in the garden for you to help yourselves to.

So I think I need:

Nappies (any recommended brands, or are they pretty much the same as anywhere?)
Wipes
Oil
Ham
More wine
Cereal (do you get weetabix in France?!?!)
Yoghurt
Juice
Pasta/sauce/veg
Bananas
Milk
Usual toiletries/sun cream etc

Have spoke to DH and I think we're going to have a cooked meal on our first night (just because we can) and on our second night too (because it's his birthday).

Are there any other basics I'm missing? Is there anything I should take with me? I was a bit put off by threads talking about how expensive it was to shop in France at the mo.

Any other tips for a self-catered holiday virgin?

Nappies - are pretty expensive in France but the brands are mostly the same (Pampers etc)
Wipes - likewise
Oil - you can often get very cheap olive oil
Ham - worth buying slightly expensive either from the deli counter or local butcher
More wine - lol! is there a wine co-op near you?
Cereal (do you get weetabix in France?!?!) - not where I am, but you might be able to! Cereal isn't too dear and supermarket brands are often as good as Kellogs or equiv.
Yoghurt - very easy to find and quite cheap
Juice - huuuge range of juices
Pasta/sauce/veg - value pasta from places like carrefour is actually really good, pasta sauces often have weird additive - I prefer to buy tinned tomatos
Bananas - easy to come by
Milk - I would recommend 'Candia' as a brand
Usual toiletries/sun cream etc - pretty expensive

What's your nearest supermarket? And when are you going because some local shops will close in August for a couple of weeks / the whole month For your fruit and veg try to shop at the local market as it's often better quality and value than supermarkets.

What they provide plus:

onions
pasta
tomatoes (tinned and fresh)
lettuce
cucumber
some nice french cheese
ham
bread
cereal

that way you have the basis of a couple of delicious easy meals, and the bread/ham/cheese is also nice with breakfast

a few types of fruit
a packet of biscuits or something like madeleine cakes so you have something sweet to have with a cuppa

kitchen roll

personally i'd take the basic toiletries with you (shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, deoderant, toothbrushes, toothpaste, suncream) and buy anything else yourself when there - people's taste in toiletries can vary widely and they might get you something you hate.

Thanks frakkinnuts, we're arriving on a Sunday and the supermarket won't be open till the Tuesday (though some local shops will be open on the Monday) so the gite owner will do a shop for us. Trying to think of everything we might need to get us through the first couple of days and then we can check out the local shops etc when we get there.

Is carrefour a supermarket or brand? Thanks for the heads up on pasta sauces. Tinned tomatoes it is!

I will take toiletries/sun cream with me - not sure why I added it to my list.

We only need more wine because I drink white and that's not included, honest...

Thanks megonthemoon. How did I forget onions?!

Carrefour is a supermarket. There are good supermarkets that I do buy own brand from and not so good supermarkets that I don't!

Ah, just like here in the UK! Not sure which supermarkets are nearby - any to avoid the own brand stuff from?

Hmm I'm not massively keen on Leclerc's own brand stuff, and there's one near DH's grandmother that's dire but I can't remember what it's called.

Carrefour, LeaderPrice, Franprix and Super/HyperU are all fine IMO.

Thanks, good to know.