Holiday in France

Talitha

Hi,

We have a self catering holiday in France coming up. I've never been abroad (apart from 6 months in the Middle East and the less said about that the better) but my experience of holidays at home is that we always spend WAY more than we anticipated.

Having got my grocery bill down from around £160 a week :eek: to a much more manageable £80 I'm keen that it doesn't shoot through the roof again. I intend to make packed lunches every day but want to avoid drinks because of the weight. I've been told that water is much cheaper to buy on the street than it is here - does anyone know if that's true?

There are 2 adults and 3 kids one of whom has Asperger syndrome (high functioning autism) who is fussy beyond belief about what he will eat.

Any ideas about what to eat and how to keep general day out costs down would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Talitha

Nicki

My general experience of shopping for food and also eating out in France is that it tends to be cheaper than here - though obviously it depends what you are buying. We also have an autistic child, and my best tip is that if there is something that you know he will definitely eat, eg a brand of breakfast cereal, I would take enough with you to last the stay. At least that means that he will always have something familiar and fairly nutritious to eat, even if he has got stressed about the unfamiliar stuff he has been offered. Don't assume you can buy the same brands abroad, and even if you can the packaging may well look a bit different, which could be enough to upset him. It might also be worth getting him used to some of the more common french stuff as a dry run before you go - eg baguettes and croissants - as it is quite difficult to buy english sandwich loaves in France (the ones they do do taste very different, and the french bread really is much nicer).

Hope you have a lovely time. We are also off to France at the weekend on our hols with our young (low functioning) autistic child. Keep your fingers crossed for us too!

pandaonmyshoulder

We are a family of 2 adults and 4 children and have just returned from 2 weeks in Vendee, France. I always take Cordial as the french syrup stuff is yuk. Most french sites you can drink the tap water (we do, no probs). I

Although at home I am very OS and cook everything from scratch it isn't always practical in our caravan and so I do tend to take a few cook in sauce packets and the usual value pasta, rice and the basics ie tea, coffee, ketchup, salad cream, marg, cereal, and UHT skimmed milk as I can nevr find it there etc. with me too. The french supermarkets ie. Carrefour, Leclerec, Champion, SuperU are mostly good value. Shopping at the local markets is good fun and with all the samples we got offered if we'd bought a baguette we'd probably have eaten a full meal by the time we had all the samples of brie, sausage, fruit etc.:o

If you are going on the ferry be sure to take a packed lunch as the prices of meals/snacks and drinks on the boats are crazy.

livinginhope

Hi talitha,we go to France at least 3 or 4 times every year and will agree that the food is considerably cheaper there,as said the brands are different but better quality no additives (by law)
Also why are you thinking of buying water there is nothing wrong with the tap water except that it is clearer than here :rolleyes:
I would suggest doing a big shop on arrival at one of the larger supermarkets,I always find Auchan the cheapest then L'eclerc.
Enjoy your hols bon voyage!

nickyhutch

You know what, Talitha, (and I know you'll all shoot me!)? You're going on hoilday, which you've afforded through cutting down your grocery bill - well done - so I'd say sod it and just go and enjoy it, without worrying too much about how much a bottle of water and the rest costs. It's going to be difficult enough trying to ensure your child with special needs is happy without the added stress of worrying about spending a bit too much. I think livinginhope is right - get yourself a big shop in when you get there and take it from there.

I hope I've not offended and if i've misunderstood and you HAVE to keep costs down, I apologise.

Talitha

Thnaks everyone for the replies.

NickyH - no offence taken! I'm sure a dash of that sort of attitude will help make it all less stressful. It's just that I've only got the bills down recently and I guess I don't want to find my feet on a slippery slop IYKWIM!

As for bottled water - I was only thinking of while we are out and about during the day. With no TV, playstation etc the intention is to keep everyone really busy.

Nicky - thanks for the suggestions. I think taking some of DS's familiar foods is a good idea. I'm hoping he won't be too much bother food wise as he'd happily live on bread of any sort and cheese - so I guess France is the place to go!

Thanks everyone,
Talitha

nickyhutch

Thankyou Talitha, I'm a bit "foot in gob" and sometimes can't write messages diplomatically and sound like a right one! I DO KWYM, since reading this site I've turned into a dreadful tightwad and resent every last penny going out of my pocket!

Have a good holiday