Shopping in France

[GregD]

I am going to France on a daytrip to do some shopping but have been told I should travel further inland to get bargains. I was going to shop at Carrefour at Cite Europe but have been told the Auchen at St Omer is much cheaper. Is this true?

[Caran]

Auchen at Coquelles is where we shop, I found Cite Europe too crowded.

[madmaggot]

Auchen is the best IMO for wines and spirits, especially their special selections.

[diddlydo]

There's an Auchan at Coquelles, right near Cité Europe. We always shop there and you don't have to fight all the other Brits in the aisles, unlike the Carrefour. Certainly no need to go to St Omer.

[chokkie]

We go to the Coquelles branch, too. Can't stand Cite Europe, far too big and too crowded. Too many trippers too. We're off to Lille in mid-December for a co uple of days, so will no doubt find a branch of Auchan, Leclerc or whatever around there as well. I had heard that there is not a lot of competition between the supermarkets in France, certainly nothing on the scale of the UK. The exchange rate doesn't make anything much cheaper than it is in England, but the French do many things that are so much better than in English supermarkets. We get a lot of French poultry on our trips - duck breasts, corn fed chickens, and I love the La Marseillaise shower gels and all that stuff. Eggs are good. We also like to head off for a street market, where the locals bring their home-grown/home-made produce to sell, usually at the weekends. There's a great market in Montreuil sur Mer, also in Boulogne. Chox.

[nannybooby]

When we lived near to the tunnel we used to go about 6 times a year ,we had a plug in chiller box (plugs into the gigarette lighter ) to keep fish and shellfish cool and used to take a corkscrew and glasses to do a car park tasting - avoiding getting wine that wasnt to our taste. Remember to take bottle stoppers and the driver mustnt swallow. We would do both Cite and Auchen at Coquelles.
Have fun !