What should I buy in France

[hellodolly1]

Any recommendations of what to buy in French Supermarkets or pharmacy that might be cheaper or worth stocking up on ?

Brie

Brie?! No you can buy Brie in the UK for the same price and quality

Pink Crémant from Bourgogne or Loire. It's between €5 to €8 in France and £15+ here for similar quality. I buy crates of it whenever we go to France.

I always like looking at the homeward stuff. Generally come home with some crockery that's different to here. And I like to look at the weird jams and all the liquers. Often come home with some weird mixer type of alcohol. Cherry, violet, chestnut. That kind of thing.

Melatonin tablets and La Roche Posay skincare!

Le petit marsellais kitchen soap is fab for getting onion and garlic smells off

Big tins of confit de canard (if you like it obviously!)

96% fruit "Jam"

Different flavours of cordial

But that's pretty much it. Most of the French pharmacy brands you can get online with discounts for a lot less

(MIL lives in France and bemoans the prices. she does rate the massive food choice though)

Eat lots of good croissants and P- chocs!

I’m always on the lookout for a specific Yves Rocher scent:Chevrefeuille Hard to get anywhere, though

If you live in the UK, you can only bring 9 litres of fizzy wine duty-free. You might also be liable for import VAT; I can't understand the govt page on that.

OP, I'd be buying confit de canard because I love it and it costs a bomb here!

I think some pharmaceutical products are less regulated in France, but I don't know what and have no idea about the law on bringing them back. Maybe look up anything you're especially invested in. I agree that beauty products aren't really worth the extra effort, as online sales here are good.

Confit de canard , will check out and yes I too love Cremant ..my good it's delicious ! Yes it's something like 9 litres but you can split and use half for spirits , which I'm doing .
I guess cos I'm in style & beauty was hoping for some tips in this direction ..but actually hasn't thought you can get most on line now .

Sorry OP - my MIL regularly comes up to see GMIL and confirms that prices are pretty much the same or worse

So I'd look for French Brands you don't see over here much or anything on an offer

Black and white striped t-shirts.

My local French pharmacy stocks a huge range of La Roche Posay, Nuxe and Embryolisse at cheaper prices than the UK so it's worth price checking if you use these products.

I looked at Nuxe when I was there and it's cheaper on Amazon!

Bonne Maman jam is €1 though!

Supermarket clothes. Theirs are so much better than ours. The soft grey jersey pyjamas I bought in carrefour two years ago are still like new. The kids' clothes are great too.

local honey

Monoprix clothes.
Homeoplasmine cure-all cream.

LRP et al cheaper in U.K.

@toomanyshoes I didn’t know you could get melatonin in France! Is it from the pharmacy? I am here till Thursday 😅

I got some nice storage tins for my kitchen.
Clothes
Marron glace
Marron jam (can't remember what they called it but it's basically sweet spread made from chestnuts and it's divine! Could be Creme de Marrons?)
Grenadine syrup - the proper stuff made from pomegranates rather than the fake berry stuff we get.

Lavender products and nice soaps. But otherwise I didn’t find products much cheaper sadly.

Savon de Marseille soap powder/laundry liquid. Smells like old-fashioned Sunlight soap.

I bought a 750ml bottle of Luxe Fig and green tea shower gel for €10 in my local Pharmacie France, it's £25 on Amazon. That's why I said it's worth price checking on some items, there may be special deals on.

Yes, from any pharmacy. It’s not the high dose stuff you can buy in the US, but still does the job (I just take 2!)

Brilliant suggestions - I got some Nuxe & also Klorane shampoo I like - actually not sure if that's cheaper !
Sardines also much cheaper and potato flour !

The La Roche Posay cream I buy in France is cheaper from their pharmacies than online.
I also buy fig confiture - delicious with a warm croissant and not too sweet.
I buy cornichons and pate too but only last minute for the pate.

We've just come home with rillettes, some of our favourite biscuits and not much else really. Most things you can get here pretty easily and others you can make. Confit fuck for example is very easy.

This honey is thick like caramel and you can get it
in supermarkets. Heaven.