I decided to do my grocery shopping for the week after work today because who would want to spend a weekend in Paris shopping for groceries. I made my list as I waited for the tram, and off I went to do my first bit of shopping in Paris.
First the good. Only in Paris do you have a cheese section area in a chain grocery store that takes up three aisles. Any type of cheese you could want including some that comes in a tub (?) is there for the taking. The cheese section at Whole Foods in the States (which is usually the size of a large dining room table) pales in comparison. And then of course there is the wine. I bought a nice Cote de Rhone for less than 4 euros. If I could live on wine and cheese alone, I'd be golden. And, the total for my bill which included a small steak for dinner tonight, enough food for two additional dinners and two lunches, plus some staples like soy sauce and tupperware, just came to 32 euros (about $40). I don't think Paris is really as expensive as everyone says (though I still haven't done restaurants yet).
Now the bad, or at least the annoying. Paris grocery stores after work are just as crowded and congested as the Paris streets during rush hour. I generally enjoy grocery shopping. Walking leisurely around the aisles thinking about all the good dishes we would be preparing in the coming week I often found pleasant. This evening, however, was a little on the stressful side. Aisles were crowded. Everyone and their kid was there (from the looks of things, it must have been bring your screaming toddler to the grocery store day today). Because no one drives to go grocery shopping in Paris, folks were dragging around their little personal shopping caddy (see photo) so that they can wheel their purchases back home. They also leave their shopping baskets in the middle of the aisle randomly. Too many things to look out for as you work your way around the store. And you had to work your way around the store because organization was less than logical. They had two areas for bread- of course no where near each other. Orange juice is found in the refrigerated beverage aisle unless it was snack size, then it was found on the other side of the store in the refrigerated snack section. Soy sauce was in the corner of the wine section (why? I do not know). I still don't know where they put their ramen noodles or their creamer. More exploration needed, but will have to save it for another day.