# Shopping in France



## aguilas389 (May 18, 2008)

Having moaned about the price of almost everything in France for the past 3 weeks and shopped nowhere except Lidl and Aldi we have now discovered E Leclerc. Have often seen these stores but always passed them up in favour of Lidl or Aldi but now must admit their prices are very compatible with the 2 motorhomers' favourites. In fact the spaghetti was 4 cents cheaper and the one at St Gilles Croix de Vie has loads of "English" packaged goods and decent Sangria. Have even got ourselves loyalty cards and have already saved €8 on groceries from a rebate due to having to buy a laptop mouse from their PC department. Will now have to download Eleclerc POIs if there is such a thing. Anyway, try them next time you have to stock up and I think you will be pleasantly surprised.
Marion & Mike


----------



## waz (Jan 5, 2008)

Cheap fuel as well Marion

Waz


----------



## me0wp00 (Jun 2, 2010)

living here im not that keen on any of the leclercs, their special offers are very good though, i like super u, auchan lovely but more expensive great quality, carrefour v exp, leader price is a discount store and vg quality biscuits at a cheap price. my aunt has a holiday home here and loves leclerc


----------



## randonneur (Jan 25, 2007)

Living in France we find Leclerc expensive for a weekly shop and use a German company called Le Mutant, excellent quality groceries. We have also got a new Lidl close by so use that as well. Auchan, SuperU, Leclerc, Carrefour all very much the same excellent for non-food though. 

If anyone is travelling through Angouleme then Intermarche at Champniers (where all the car showrooms are) has the cheapest diesel around and has an excellent restaurant.


----------



## peeter (Aug 6, 2009)

*Shopping*

We do most of our weekly shop at Auchun in Beziers and find their prices cheaper than Carrefour or Hyper U.Using their card gives a good annual discount. Leclerc is not as well stocked.(Diesel is 1.26.)


----------



## teensvan (May 9, 2005)

Hi.

We tour for at least 14 weeks each summer in France and have found that Super U do a good selection of own brand goods which seem of very good quality, but that is only our opinion. We also use Lidl.

I keep a very intensive account system of everything we buy and we fed ourselves last year cheaper in France than we do in the UK.

Do not just buy the english food in the stores. Look round at offers that are on and remember that a lot of stores are closed on sundays so sell off food cheaper on a saturday afternoon. 

We shall give the salad stuff a miss next week when we go into Germany even if it is cheap.

At the moment we are on an aires in Stenay that charges €3 for 48 hours WiFi use. That would be £ 10 on a UK campsite.

steve & ann. ---------- teensvan.


----------



## wakk44 (Jun 15, 2006)

Interesting to see what supermarkets the members living in France like and use.

We only found one Leclerc and were impressed,the Intermarche,Carrefour and SuperUs were also very good.

Aldi and Lidl we thought were more English orientated but didn't seem to sell fresh milk,only long life. :?


----------



## geordie01 (Apr 20, 2006)

we have used leclerc for years and find their boxed wines most agreeable


----------



## Zebedee (Oct 3, 2007)

teensvan said:


> Do not just buy the english food in the stores.
> steve & ann. ---------- teensvan.


Couldn't agree more Steve and Ann. Who in his right mind goes to France and looks for English food in the stores!! :roll:

When you get to Germany, try a Flammkuchen for lunch at a little cafe/restaurant.

It's a bit like pizza but much lighter and fresher. Really delicious, and although it doesn't look like a lot, it's quite filling and enough for a light lunch . . . with a glass of Bavarian beer of course!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarte_flambée

Have fun (envy, envy! :lol: )

Dave


----------



## Hezbez (Feb 7, 2009)

wakk44 said:


> Aldi and Lidl we thought were more English orientated but didn't seem to sell fresh milk,only long life. :?


I found a definite lack of fresh milk in France - last time we were there long life was much more readily available - or was I looking in the wrong place for the fresh stuff? :?


----------



## geraldandannie (Jun 4, 2006)

Hezbez said:


> or was I looking in the wrong place for the fresh stuff? :?


Probably. The only time we've failed to find fresh milk was the other day at Super U in Gravelines. It's usually hidden away in a section of the chiller cabinets, nowhere near the UHT stuff. Sometimes, it's nowhere near any of the other dairy stuff. If in doubt, ask one of the assistants ("lait frais").

Gerald


----------



## me0wp00 (Jun 2, 2010)

usually near the eggs or butter, most supermarkets have it but if uk hols runs out quickly, most french and myself have uht...our lidls dont sell it but leader price does


----------



## DTPCHEMICALS (Jul 24, 2006)

I haven`t got a clue as to the price of anything.Except diesel which seems to fluctuate weekly.
Shopping is Lady p`domain.
So when abroad I just push the trolley.

I do note that we have used Leclerk, Carrefourand SuperU in the past.
If you need food , you have to buy it 8) 
dave p


----------



## wakk44 (Jun 15, 2006)

DTPCHEMICALS said:


> I haven`t got a clue as to the price of anything.Except diesel which seems to fluctuate weekly.
> dave p


It varied quite a lot in the last few weeks,the cheapest we saw was 128 at a big supermarket,most expensive was 148 at a motorway aire.I tended pay between 130-134 at the supermarkets.


----------



## lalala (Aug 13, 2009)

We shop around, sometimes Leclerc, sometimes Lidl, sometimes Carrefour etc. What we do know to watch for is that, too often, the prices at the cashouts are higher than on the shelves, though this never happens at Lidl. Friends who live in France now watch each price going through or shop using a scanner. One friend says this saves her several euros each week. 
We try not to compare Uk and French shopping as we think that for most items Uk is cheaper and/or better quality and we don't want to moan on holiday!
Think of the good things .... mainly the lack of traffic.
Lala


----------



## joedenise (Jul 20, 2007)

Have to completely disagree with Lala about prices/quality. We've always found the quality of food in France much better than in the UK. We probably spend more in France in a week than we would in the UK but that's mainly to do with the amount of wine/beer we buy while we away :lol: :lol: :lol: 

Denise


----------



## mr2 (Feb 26, 2009)

aguilas389 said:


> Having moaned about the price of almost everything in France for the past 3 weeks and shopped nowhere except Lidl and Aldi we have now discovered E Leclerc. Have often seen these stores but always passed them up in favour of Lidl or Aldi but now must admit their prices are very compatible with the 2 motorhomers' favourites. In fact the spaghetti was 4 cents cheaper and the one at St Gilles Croix de Vie has loads of "English" packaged goods and decent Sangria. Have even got ourselves loyalty cards and have already saved €8 on groceries from a rebate due to having to buy a laptop mouse from their PC department. Will now have to download Eleclerc POIs if there is such a thing. Anyway, try them next time you have to stock up and I think you will be pleasantly surprised.
> Marion & Mike


Can agree with that. We are off to Normandy tomorrow and will shop at Leclerc at Honfleur as we travel to Brittany. Have been there a few times and value is good. You can download E LeClerc as a POI onto satnav plus carrefour(?) & others
Barry


----------



## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Yes Lala.
The lack of traffic is wonderful until the school holidays..!!! :twisted: 

There are times my wife comes back from our local supermarket saying how expensive things are. But as soon as I do a Tesco online comparison there is not much in it.

Many brits complain about the price of their favourite English version. Cereal, Stock Cubes, Marmalade, Wheatabix, etc. etc. What do they expect?? :roll: 

Ray.


----------

