Shopping in Calais

DUKE

I went to Europe 4 times last year & the prices didn't seem to be much different to our supermarkets here in the UK.

rising_from_the_ashes

We used to go about once a year and it did used to save a lot of money.

We looked the last time we were there (in France anyway) and tbh the prices were no longer substantially cheaper than buying when the stuff's on offer here,

kochi1

My folks do this most months as easy for them to get there - they do a good stock up of wine and with the stuff they drink its worth while. plus they get tinned stuff, frozen foods and bring them back and they say its worth it.

EycplUK

DUKE wrote: »

I went to Europe 4 times last year & the prices didn't seem to be much different to our supermarkets here in the UK.

This maybe be true but the big difference is in the Quality of produce in the Hyper/Supermarkets !
Even the Lidl/Aldi stores over there are substancially better than here in the UK , when i asked one of the Belgian Lidl managers why this was so he told me , " they send more rubbish to the Uk , our shoppers would not stand for it ! "
My best ever buy in France was at Auchan in Dunkirk , got a whole Air Dried ham for €29 ! same thing over here £100 + !
It was Gorgeous ! :):)

Mr_Silks

EycplUK wrote: »

Even the Lidl/Aldi stores over there are substancially better than here in the UK , when i asked one of the Belgian Lidl managers why this was so he told me , " they send more rubbish to the Uk , our shoppers would not stand for it ! "

I cannot comment on Belgian Aldi but the negative inference should not apply to UK Aldi. My daughter was an area manager for Aldi and their business model was to provide very limited choice but of top quality with bare minimum staffing levels [although comparatively well paid] Many of their suppliers were used by M & S. I subsequently witnessed this when I saw into a German dairy company lorry carrying dairy products. Half the load was produce in the M&S branding the rest in Aldi. I have worked in France for many years and found the Aldi stores there to be well below the UK standard and generally avoided by French colleagues. French supermarkets are just as variable in quality as the UK but generally at a much higher price. A family sized chicken is over £18 in Paris, 2 cod steaks from the fishmonger £26, I could go on but love shopping back here because the prices seem so low. The price hikes in France started with the introduction of the Euro.

warehouse

I looked into this before Christmas and it would seem that 90 litres of wine per person is the accepted limit at customs for "personal use".

C_Mababejive

I dont think its viable as you can get wine/beer just as cheap here now.

Have you considered home bre kits for volume wine and then buying bottles of special stuff eg champagne?

You can buy home brew large volume kits cheaply and you will be amazed at the quality of the product if done right.

I guarantee you could blind taste test it against bottle wines and it would be difficult to tell the difference in many cases.

Ezmondino

From what I have seen most things in France have gone up in price a lot recently. Germany appears to be far cheaper for wine nowadays but that's not really practical for you.

Redcedar

We travel to France every year ( some times twice) and i have to say that the closer to Calais you get the more expensive it becomes.


Saying that our last stop was at Chalons en champagne on the way home last september and it was great! In Carrefour (supermarket) you could buy good local and national wines (red, white and rose) for under £3 a bottle and sparkling cremant ( like cava / champagne) for 1 euro a bottle. Being in the champagne region you could also get very good champagne for arrounf £15 a bottle with discount on cases.

Its a good few hours down the auro route (3 or 4) so maybe a weekend type trip but there is a good campsite there if you have a tent

I don't think all in all your would save a lot but if you wanted to serve something different than the mainstream then you will not be dissapointed

markwilkinson

I would echo what others have said and say it probably isn't worth it these days.

We used to go over a couple of times a year. I think if you shop wisely in the bigger supermarket chains here you can get as good a deal on alcohol. If you check the offers regularly, you know, 25% off when you buy 6 bottles of wine, 2 cases of beer for £15 or whatever, you could probably do as well financially.

Having said that if you just fancy a day out with a difference then why not?