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Shopping for food is a delight in France.  Supermarkets have good fresh produce, but step beyond their walls to enter a world of culinary excellence - from the local boulangerie offering fresh cooked bread + croissants for breakfast to the village boucherie with a choice of meats for the evening barbecue or the charcuterie for cooked meats/pates for your picnic.

Supermarkets: The major chains are:

 

         - Auchan          - Carrefour

         - Casino           - Champion

         - E.Leclerc       - Intermarché
         - Le Shopi        - Super U

 

Click here for hot tips on supermarkets.

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Markets - one of the great pleasures of a holiday in France is browsing at the local markets.  As you wander, your senses will be aroused with the perfume of herbs and spices....here you will find quality fruit and vegetables at excellent prices, you can find meat, bread and cheese....infact the perfect start to every holiday is to start it at the local Sunday market (remember supermarkets are often closed on a Sunday).  Click here for our section on markets in France including information on where to find them and when they are open.

Local Shops:
Most villages will have a boulangerie, a tabac and a boucherie. Again, like the supermarkets, lunchtime is observed.  The boulangerie is an excellent place to buy your croissants for breakfast each morning (opening around 7am) as well as fresh bread and other delights (pain au chocolat, brioche and pain aux raisins).  

Which Region to Choose

Favourite French Sketches

 

Glossary of useful words for shopping:

 

la banque                       - bank

le boucherie                    - butchers

la boulangerie                 - bakers

le bureau de tabac          - tobacconists, (also sells stamps,

                                       sometimes newspapers and often is part

                                       of the local bar)

le bureau de poste           - post office

le centre commercial       - shopping centre

la charcuterie                  - traditionally the pork butcher, but is more
                                       like our English delicatessen, selling
 
                                      cold meats, quiche, salads, pates
                                        – wonderful for buying a picnic.

le coiffeur / la coiffeuse     - hairdressers

l’épicerie                         - grocery store

le marché                        - market

la patisserie                     - cakes/pastries (also sold at the bakers)

la pharmacie                    - chemists

la presse                         - newspapers/magazines

le supermarché                - supermarket

le chariot                         - trolley

les bonbons                     - sweets

le beurre                          - butter

le fromage                       - cheese

le lait                              - milk

le sucre                          - sugar

un œuf                           - egg

le pain                            - bread

le poulet                          - chicken                           

le poulet fermier               - free range chicken

la viande                          - meat

une tranche                     - a slice

le vin                               - wine

le café                             - coffee

le thé                              - tea

jus d’orange                     - orange juice

jus de pomme                  - apple juice

les allumettes                  - matches

un sac                             - bag

un timbre                         - a stamp

entrée                             - entrance

sortie                              - exit

sortie de secours             - emergency exit

tirez                                - pull (on shop doors)

poussez                          - push (on shop doors)