Calling any OSers living in France

Norman_Bean

Morning
Just curious really if there are any other peeps on here who live in France.
I live in Normandy and started to adopt a 'waste not want not' approach about 6 weeks ago.
I have ditched Carrefour for Aldi/Lidl and am cooking virtually everything from scratch.
I bought a second hand bread machine for €18 but my efforts are a bit hit and miss and I have made H do a batch of bread to put in the freezer
What else? Am making my own yogurts and am making all biscuits / muffins for the kids gouter myself. Although might that a break for a few days as I end up eating half of them
I really want to investigate star drops etc for cleaning but have no idea if I can get anything similar in France ...
Anyway looking forward to hearing from someone.
Oh and thanks to all the OSers on here, the forum is fab and I've already learned loads!
Thanks
Norman x

charliee_3

I dont live in France, but the in-laws do and when we went to stay with them it was SHOCKING the price of everything.. If i lived there I would probably be a size 8 coz i'd be too tight to buy food!!

The in-laws bring the car over every so often and do a massive supermarket shop of things to take back- they buy everything..tea, coffee, jam, sauces, tins of beans, herbs, pasta, cleaning products, cereal... its like being in little england over there sometimes putting asda jam on your toast in the morning!

its unbelievable that once upon a time we used to do runs to france to stock up on cheap goodies, now its the other way around and looks like its set to get worse if the pound keeps falling against the euro...

oh well... sorry i wasnt much help..

maybe you can get a friend to send you some?

Norman_Bean

Hi Charlilee
Everything is sooo expensive here, and wages are lower in general.
Just in the two years that I've been here I've noticed a huge rise in food costs, seems to be the opposite of what's happening in UK supermarkets?
I try to get back to UK each school holiday and I do stock up - everything seems so cheap when I go round Morrissons! Unfortunatly I won't be going back this half term as we're a bit skint and I am running out of supplies ... can do without most things but I may have to get my parents to post an emergency box of red label teabags!
Must admit though Aldi/lidl shopping is saving me a fortune .... they must be supersonic cheap in UK!?

janiebaby29

i have a friend who lives in france and is on here , I will alert her and point her in this direction ,
she lives in lucon , nearest airport is la rochelle ,
Ive been over 3 times and love it there , but agree times are tough in france

Norman_Bean

Thanks janiebaby29 - it would be nice to hear how other ex-pats are doing their OS ways here x
Haven't been to la rochelle but we're planning on camping there for our summer hols next year!
Thanks again
Norman x

maman

A bit off subject but I'm glad to hear it wasn't just me thinking French food prices had gone through the roof. We've just returned from 3 weeks in France, SC in a rented house after an absence of two years and I was amazed at our food bills in comparison with previously although admittedly we weren't shopping around at all. I also thought restaurant prices had gone a bit silly with even very basic snacks (croque monsieur etc) costing the earth. When I went out to lunch last week here the pub I ate in seemed very cheap in comparison. I did find that wine prices were still good! :DTwo questions out of interest, Norman:

• Do Aldi do a Super-6 on fruit and veg in France and is it good? I found that often we were paying a lot for pretty mediocre veg (including Norman Beans!!)
• As you live in Northern France are you able to get cheap foot passenger rates to come over and do a quick shop like we used to do in reverse?

mioliere

Hi from SW France (not far from Poitiers). We moved here in March this year; we bought our house four years ago and I can remember how cheap I thought food was at the time. Perhaps the biggest shock of all is how much it costs here now. Seeing a cabbage priced at €2.50 (when I moaned when they were .89p in the UK) was mind-numbing! We did a big supermarket shop when we visited the UK in August, to make the most of the prices back there. I think I probably spend around £15 a week more on food here than I did in the UK. I knit a lot, too, and the price of wool here is horrendous; similarly, the price of postage, and, it seems, anything made of plastic!

As it happens, an English friend of mine went back to the UK in September, with her French chef husband, and he was really impressed by the choice of food in the British supermarkets, and he loved the bread. He now thinks that French bread is rubbish!

HariboJunkie

Mioliere your blog is making me very envious. :T

mioliere

Hi Haribo - thanks for that! You wouldn't envy the prices, though! They make the UK look so so cheap. I'm having to work even harder to be OS here! But I suppose the peace and quiet, the sunshine, and the complete lack of congestion on the roads, makes up for it a bit!

KathyXX

Norman_Bean

[/QUOTE] Two questions out of interest, Norman:

• Do Aldi do a Super-6 on fruit and veg in France and is it good? I found that often we were paying a lot for pretty mediocre veg (including Norman Beans!!)
• As you live in Northern France are you able to get cheap foot passenger rates to come over and do a quick shop like we used to do in reverse?

[/QUOTE]

Hi maman (sure you're not French with a user name like that?!)
Re Super - 6 I haven't seen anythig about it but I will enquire. Fruit and veg is pretty ropey in supermarkets I find and to be honest since being OS I've been using up supplies of frozen veg so haven't really investigated cheap, quality produce yet (the market is REALLY expensive too!)

With Ferry yes it is cheaper to go as a foot passenger but we are 4 hour drive from Calais, 1 hour from Caen but then it's a longer crossing (about 5 hours). Now that both kids are at school I may have more freedom to try out getting away on my own!!??

Mioliere - ah yes, choice!! That's the best thing about British supermarkets :T
Can I have a nosey at your blog (if it's public of course!)
I hope that we can share FOS tips together!
Norman x

thriftlady_2

[/QUOTE]


Mioliere - ah yes, choice!! That's the best thing about British supermarkets :T
[/QUOTE]

I have to smile at this Norman. I was in Normandy in July and was blown away by the choice available in French supermarkets and in the street markets. It seemed to me that there was far more choice of real foods -cheese, meat, fish, fruit and veg, bread than in UK supermarkets. In UK supermarkets the choice is vast if you want ready meals, confectionary and crisps.

I did find prices high though except for wine which was a lot cheaper.