French supermarkets

[fatsatsuma]

We are travelling in France a lot this summer, and one of the things that is worrying me (irrationally probably) is supermarket shopping.

After the initial novelty of wandering round a French supermarket, I'm going to want to get it done as quickly and cheaply as possible. I also don't want to look like a clueless foreigner at the check out

Any tips from experienced French travellers? Also any advice on particularly good things to look out for? Many thanks.

We found them quite similar to british ones - big, light, loads of choice.
But the fruit and veg were nicer, and dh said the meat was.
And cheese.
It si probably nicer to shop at individual shops if you have chance.

Thanks littlerach. I know what you mean about individual shops, but we're in France for quite a while and I'm guessing supermarkets will be cheaper.

Have you used the different chains eg. Leclerc, Casino? I'm wondering if they are different in the same way that our big chains are eg.Tescos/Asda generally cheaper, Sainsburys/Waitrose nicer if you can afford it!

Leclerc is my preference, and probably cheaper than most of the others.

Tips, take your own bags, as they are not provided. Make sure you weigh fruit and veg before you go to the till.

Buy wine in boxes, or from the cheap range, which is often apart from the wine from different regions, and is much cheaper, while still being very drinkable.

Own brand stuff is generally very good, in Leclerc look out for the "Marque repaire" brand.

Don't dismiss Lidl and Aldi, they have them dotted around france now and they are great for some things.

Thanks frenchfancy - some good tips. I was wondering about bags.

In the wine you could look for the bottles with tags on them about being the supermarket's choice or "medaille d'or" - gold medal winner - that will give you a bit of guidance.

No-one will be looking at you - well unless you totally fill up one trolley JUST with alcohol - this always gets in our local Auchan.

Plenty of people wandering around just gawping at the stuff, not buying that much.

Honestly the worst you might have to deal with is old ladies skipping the queue or other people pushing in.

Mind you, I really embarrassed two English blokes one time in Auchan.

I was 7mths pregnant, so went to the priority check-out, which you can use if you are not pregnant, but you must make way if asked.

I asked the person ahead of me to let me in, they were further back in the queue and TOTALLY mortified thinking it was pregnant ladies ONLY - but then I talked to them and then they jokingly stuck out their fat bellies to "pretend" to be pregnant!

If you need to keep costs down, look out for own-brand stuff, same as here. We usually go to Super-U because that is what there is mostly where we go. I know people on MN often rave about Leclerc but I didn't see what the fuss was about!

One thing I have noticed is that fruit & veg is mostly locally produced and so seasonal. It is good value but you may need to bear that in mind when meal planning.

get your fruit and veg weighed and bagged at the fruit/veg aisle. Some supermarkets will not wiegh at the till and you have to fight your weigh back through the queue to do ait much to the annoyance of le Franch

fight your way of course!

I quite like carrefour. They have good a 'traditional basics' line of classic french ingredientS.

We went to the super u when in the vendee last summer.

Loads of choice but i found it significantly more expensive than england.

Thanks everyone. It's useful to know about the fruit and veg, and also the supermarkets' own brands and wine recommendations - will look out for those.

jamaisjedors, I will look out for the priority chceck-out - looking pregnant (whilst not being) comes naturally to me

always have a euro for the trolley.

often the fruit seems to be riper than here.

they do scrummy juices.

fresh milk is harder to get hold of. uht seems to be more the norm.

ermmm, thats all I can think of.

You can get bags at the check-out - you just have to pay for them.

Yes, the milk! That's a good point. Can you actually get fresh milk in France? I was not looking forward to tea and coffee with UHT - it just tastes wrong

Remember a lot of them don't open at all on Sundays and those that do only open for the morning.

Remember a lot of them don't open at all on Sundays and those that do only open for the morning.

Not at all of them you need to weigh your fruits before you get to the till, not in Monoprix and Franprix, for example. And they do provide bags, but it's better to take your own, as they plastic ones they give you are not very strong and bad for enviroment, of course.

You can get fresh milk in Monoprix

Carrefour and Intermarche fine - good prepared salads and a selection of 'value' cuts of cheese - have a look in the deli / chiller cabinets. This year every single thing we bought in French supermarket, except Bonne Maman jam, coffee beans and wine was far more expensive than it would have been in the U.K. Meat was hugely expensive, and Petrol was v expensive, too.

Exchange rate - the tables have turned!

I think you can get fresh milk in every french supermarket.

Think it's all been said - a euro for the trolley - the fruit and veg and wine generally better - you might have to weigh the fruit and veg yourself and print out a ticket ...

We generally go to Leclerc because that's closest but been to most of them and can't really establish much of a difference

I've always avoided the bread from the supermarket because a baker once told me that it was made out of premix. Also every now and than dip out and go visit a traiteur to get a lovely ready made meal

V good news about the milk

V bad news about the cost of everything

Quattrocento,what is a traiteur?

• not so sure about getting fresh milk..??

spent 5 weeks last year and didn't see much fresh milk tbh.

Though campsites usually have fresh milk.

We took a lot of store cuboard food that we could make meals form and enough to last us 4 weeks.

the we shopped for fruit and vegtables and the odd item of fancy at the supermarkets.

As it is really getting very expensive - not only is the euro low but the french have had a hike in inflation so it is a double whammy.

Peaches and plums though and a lot of seasonal fruits are good value - but if you want french chees then think seripously about taking it with you from the uk as you will find it is cheaper

I've always been able to find fresh milk in French supermarkets but you won't find as much as in English supermarkets. More long life/UHT milk is sold than fresh and sometimes you will only get one sort of fresh milk e.g. semi skimmed or full fat but not both.

Hot chocolate powder is very good - we usually stock up on Poulain Grand Arome.

Chilled desserts - mousses, creme caramel etc etc are usually far cheaper and classier in France than the UK.

A friend who lived in France told me that E Leclerc was the equivalent of ASDA in the UK (but strangely I prefer E Leclerc and am a die hard Waitrose shopper in the UK)

Oh, go to a big carrefour - they've got freaky new fruit & veg weighing scales THAT KNOW WHAT YOU'VE PUT ON! eg, you put apples on it comes up with a choice of apple varieties to choose from, you put on tomatoes you get a choice of tomatoes varieties. It is very clever! (but you end up getting loads of extra things as you try to catch it out!)

Apart from that, expect everything to be expensive and if travelling by car it is prob. worth bringing some basics with you.

They are the same as UK supermarkets. They might have longer queues though, and you will need to provide your own bags or buy their ones.

If you buy their ones, they are pontastic once you get home.