Food & Drink shopping in France

Almost every village, town or city has its own market, offering fresh produce from fruit and vegetables, meat, cheese, to household products and clothes (although these will not always be reasonably priced in markets). Shopping at a French market is a real experience, lots of fun and a good way to brush up your language skills whilst choosing your produce. Your concierge and/or your neighbours will be able to tell you where to find your nearest market.

Market streets will normally include the household suppliers for your daily dietary needs: the boulangerie (bakery), where you can also buy pâtisserie (cakes); the boucherie (butchers); the charcuterie (cold and smoked meats, and pies); the poissonnerie (fish shop); the épicerie (grocers store); the fromagerie (cheese shop); the cave á vins (wine shop / off-licence); and probably at least one confiserie (chocolate/sweet shop).

Remember that France works on the metric system, with one pound equivalent to 0.45 kg. If you tell a butcher or cheese merchant how many people you wish to serve, they will suggest what they think is the usual amount. Normally shopkeepers will serve you and then ask, 'Et avec ca? /Ca sera tout? ' And with that? /Will that be all? If you have nothing more to buy, then the answer is simply, 'C'est tout merci'. At the charcuterie, if you are buying ham, you will be asked 'Combien de tranches? ' (How many slices). At the fromagerie, the shopkeeper will probably show you either the whole cheese or a ready-cut piece and ask you to choose the size of piece (morceau) that you want for hard cheeses. Soft cheeses such as Camembert are normally sold either in halves or whole; and certain small and rarer cheeses (e.g. goats' cheese, chevres) are only sold whole.

At the bakers, if you buy a baguette, you will be asked if you want it 'Coupé en deux ' (cut in half). If you buy a small loaf of bread the question will be 'Tranché?' (Sliced?) If you do ask the baker to slice the loaf, it will be produced using a professional machine, presented in plastic with a seal, and cost a little extra. Finally if you buy flowers either at the market or in a fleurist, you will be asked if they are a gift (in which case they will be gift-wrapped automatically) or for the home - 'C'est pour offrir ou pour la maison? '

What do you do if you do not have the time, facility or inclination to shop at the market? Supermarkets are not lacking and there is nothing particularly special about the way in which French supermarkets function - everything is pretty self-explanatory even if you do not speak French. The most well-known hypermarkets are Auchan and Carrefour, both of which also sell clothing, computers and even package holidays. The Picard chain of shops specialises in frozen (surgelé) food.