Hunter Gatherers

Pictured above is local grocery store - Franprix
This may be the city of love but after awhile you find that love does not fill the belly.

Though J. is bringing home the bacon, it’s not the kind you can eat. So with my belly growling it was time go forth and do some huntin and gathin. It was time to figure out how to fill up that mini-fridge. So with Google maps as my weapon and the French word for supermarket at my fingertips, supermarche, I was able to quickly find at least four different supermarkets within walking distance. Sure beats the bow and arrow approach and saved some wear and tear on my shoes and feet. I headed out and hit the super marches Ed, Champion, Rungis and Fran Prix. All within a few blocks of our home but in different directions.

These supermarches are pretty much what you might expect from a supermarket. First it’s air conditioned which our apartment is not and it’s hot. So I lingered in each aisle and enjoyed the cool air. There are some different things from the American counterpart such as the eggs and milk are not refrigerated. I also could not find things like granola bars or Ziploc baggies. It could be that I just don’t know the language well enough to recognize what it might be without illustrative pictures on the packaging. I did see some mustard packaged in a wine glass for fancy serving. There were also fresh vegetables packaged to make ratatouille. This package included garlic, green & red peppers, egg plant, tomatoes and onions. The other fun item is the poor man’s version of pan chocolate. It’s a pastry with chocolate inside and eaten at breakfast. You can also buy croissants bagged up like rolls. There were many items that proudly displayed produite du France. The one big difference is that all the grocery stores have you bag your own groceries. If you are not fast enough the cashier gives you stern looks. Everyone seems to carry these brightly colored reusable bags as well and I bought one. I think we can also use it for our laundry. For dinner I settled on what I thought was salmon only to find it was pink trout, a $6 bottle of white wine and some chocolate. I have yet to try a bad wine here. The French really know how to make wines for everyone. The nice thing about the supermarches is that it’s a respite from the hot air and you only have to go to one shop to find anything except aspirin and sunscreen. This is found only at the pharmacy but more on this later.

I have found that it’s better to buy your bread or baguette from the local boulangerie. The ones at the grocery store definitely can’t compete in taste. In the early morning you can see everyone going to the boulangerie to buy their baguette for the day and taking them back home. They are very inexpensive less than one Euro. It’s on the weekends that when we go to pick up our baguette for the day we treat ourselves to the homemade pastries as well and the real deal for the pan chocolate. And yes the pastries do live up to their repetition. If it’s not already included in the 1001 things you must do before you die list, tasting the bread and pastries from a Parisian boulangerie should be 1002. There are no preservatives so you must eat it that day or it turns into something you could use as a weapon. Top the baguette up off with that the delicious butter (buerre) from the supermarche and you have you one lovely meal, snack or appetizer.

On the way to supermarche you can’t help but walk past the little stores that specialize in the basic grocery store items. Special little shops that only sell the meat, cheese, bread, fruits and vegetables and CHOCOLATE! I did stop here to buy some treats during my first hunting expedition.

Later this summer we move to a flat around the corner from a farmer’s market. My initial walk through left me with the opinion that these markets are for the gourmands. The display of the fruits and vegetables seemed like something right out of a magazine. If you are looking for a special type of olive or a different kind of cheese than the farmer’s market will offer more upscale varieties than I found in my neighborhood grocery store. On Sunday we found a market full of rainbow colored tweetie birds near Notre Dame.