|
Bought a few bottles of Red wine whilst in Paris last week @ 2 Euro's a bottle, not brilliant but better than anything i've had to date from Tesco's.
|
If you buy beer or wine in Calais, try to get it at a British type shop, ie Tesco etc.
I bought alot of Stella in 25cl bottles and about a third of it was off, it's a long way to take it back. I bought some cases of wine and one case was off (not cheap stuff). It makes it quite expensive!
It always makes me laugh when I see trolleys loaded with British beer. Brew it in Burton, take it to Calais, then bring it back to Derby. Bring on global warming.
The one thing I always do is fill up with French diesel, but that is not much cheaper now. The missus tells me that those coloured iron pots and pans are cheaper also. The cheese and pate are good value, but we really ought to buy British to help the poor farmers!
|
|
I think the "coloured iron pots and pans" must refer to Le Creuset cookware. This is pukka gear if you're serious about cooking, though check Amazon first, as they had an offer a while back. Likely to be good value in France, though.
|
Yup we have built up a set of Le Creuset cookware over various trips. The orange is common tho!
Coffee. Coffee is a 1/4 of the price and pistachio nuts. Olive oil is dirt cheap.
------------------------------
TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
|
You don't get such a good deal on champagne or on expensive chateau-bottled wine by buying in France, unless you get into the whole thing in serious depth. The stuff that's really great value is more run-of-the-mill regional wine. For a quid or two a bottle you can get wine that (once it's had a rest after the journey) you simply wouldn't find here, or might have to pay a fiver or tenner for.
Trouble is, you have to know what you're doing, and I don't. But I have a Belgian friend who lives in Paris who, relatively speaking, does know what he's doing. I ask him what's good in the supermarket at the moment, try it, and if I like it get a couple of dozen. It never lasts long of course.
My advice is: make friends with a local if you don't know one already, and ask what's good value this month. They understand that kind of talk in France.
I absolutely hate 50cl bottles of Stella, well not absolutely perhaps, but my wife has a cousin who lives on them practically with no apparent ill effects.
|
Or alternatively just look at what wines the locals are buying and buy the same.
I too go for the St Emilion and Chateau Neuf as far as wine goes, but other than that things like dishwasher tablets as previously mentioned are great value. I don't bring Beers back, basically since I prefer bottles of Miller and there is always some UK supermarket with them on offer at £12 or so for a 24 pack.
I must admit, my favourite holidays are the ones where I have driven down to the South of France. Great drive and then whilst you are down there, going to some of the hypermarkets to stock up for your time there. Usually buy enough to feed and water (ahem) a small village!. Then at end of your holiday, you pack up the car (in my case the Scenic) and you try and see how many things you can stow in all the cubby holes!
In my Mark 1 Scenic I had bottles in each of the footwells, bottles in the cubbys under the rear seats, and I even bought a couple of the plastic 1.5 litres of red wine to put in the bottle carriers at each side of the parcel shelf! IIRC I had managed to put something close to 15 bottles in all these places!
My present new shape Scenic has replaced the cubbys under the rear seats with pull out drawers which, although more practical and accessible, are not big enough for bottles!
|
"I bought alot of Stella in 25cl bottles and about a third of it was off, it's a long way to take it back. I bought some cases of wine and one case was off (not cheap stuff). It makes it quite expensive!"
You must be very unlucky - never experienced either!
In general France ain't as cheap as it was 4 or 5 years ago - I think because of introduction of the euro, recent weakness of pound against euro and their higher rate of inflation.
There are still bargains - beer and wine are the obvious ones (brands like Stella, marketed here as being "reassuringly expensive" or some such are just beer over there). Beer seems to be priced according to alcohol content - Stella, Pelforth etc cost more because they are quite high - over 5% proof but still only about half the price of the best offers in British supermarkets (£5 a box). Cheap wine is much better value over there because wine in UK is taxed per bottle (about £1.50?) so even stuff that costs 50p in France will cost at least £2 here. There are hundreds of good quality chateau bottled Bordeauxs/Burgundies etc for about £3 (I try not to spend more than £2.50!)in French supermarkets and they won't be rubbish because they wouldn't survive 5 mins on the shelves if they were and all the supermarkets have their own experts who test and buy the wines! Test a few types when there, decide what you like and then stock up!
The supermarkets also have some good motoring stuff relatively cheap. Windscreen wipers are the obvious ones - Bosch are about half the price they are in UK and if you go for own brand ones they are even cheaper and look to me to be identical to (and sometimes even stamped) Valeo/Champion - about £2-£3 a blade.
There are also lots of tools - spanners etc - not top quality but sort of Draper standard, which are v. cheap, especially if you can find the "bargain boxes". Some electrical goods are also cheap - I bought a Hama card reader, which works well, for 3 euros!
The other things worth mentioning (apart from stuff mentioned above) are bits for cycles - anything from cycle racks to derailleur gears are v. cheap over there. Anything Decathlon sells is about 20% cheaper in Fench stores than British
If you are going anywhere near Troyes on your travels be sure to call in at their "factory shop" area - it's about as big as all the MacArthur Glen places in Britain all joined together. Anything from Armani Suits at 50% off (so I am told - never bought an Armani suit!) to the usual Levi, Nike, Reebok stuff via Aigle and Columbia outdoor gear!
www.tourisme-troyes.com/welcome/index.htm
Just realised what a sad post this is - I hate Sainsbury's Tesco's etc but I do like French hypermarkets! I get my own trolley, wife goes off with hers, I go via electrical, motoring section to the booze bit - hundreds of different types of beer, thousands of wines, select a few varieties for sampling. An hour later, wife is happy (she's a shopaholic!!) and so am I (nearly an alcoholic!!)
By the way, don't bypass the boxes of wine, from about £6 to £10 for a 5 litre box (£15 in Sains??) and you have decent swiggable wine every evening on tap and no-one can say "How many bottles have you opened tonight? 'cos you just press the tap for another glass!! Just off for another!!
Happy shopping (God, I'm a saddo!)
--
Phil
|
Use your brains tho.
I got a set of super quality fully fitted car mats for the goona.
A L/H drive goona
DOH
------------------------------
TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
|
Didn't an earlier post mention Mobil 1 was a different Mobil 1, in France, to that in the UK??
& the soap powder is cheap enough for lorry drivers we know to prefer bringing it back, than fags n booze!!
VB
|
|
