Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
At the
charcuterie
or
traiteur
(for deli items, prepared salads, meats, and pâtés), I
like a slice of
pâté de campagne
(country pâté made of pork) and
saucissons sec
(dried
sausages, some with pepper crust orgarlic—you can ask tohave it sliced thin like salami).
I get a fresh salad, too. Typical options are
carottes râpées
(shredded carrots in a tangy
vinaigrette),
salade de betteraves
(beets in vinaigrette), and
céleri rémoulade
(celery root
with a mayonnaise sauce). The food comes in easy-to-carry takeout boxes, and they may
supply a plastic fork
(fourchette).
Ata
cave à vin,
youcanbuychilledwinesthatthemerchantisusuallyhappytoopen
and re-cork for you. Note: Bottles of Champagne don't require a corkscrew to open!
At a
supermarché, épicerie,
or
magasin d'alimentation
(small grocery store or min-
imart), you'll find plastic cutlery and glasses, paper plates, napkins, drinks, chips, and
sometimes a small display of produce.
Supermarchés
are less colorful than smaller stores,
but cheaper, more efficient, and offer adequate quality. Department stores often have su-
permarkets in the basement. On the outskirts of cities, you'll find the monster
hyper-
marchés.
Drop in for a glimpse of hyper-France in action.
In stores, unrefrigerated soft drinks, bottled water, and beer are one-third the price
of cold drinks. Bottled water and boxed fruit juice are the cheapest drinks. Avoid buying
drinks to-go at streetside stands; they cost far less in a shop. Hang on to the half-liter
mineral-water bottles (sold everywhere for about €1). Buy juice in cheap liter boxes, then
drink some and store the extra in your water bottle. Of course, water quenches your thirst
betterandcheaperthananythingyou'llfindinastoreorcafé.Idrinktapwaterthroughout
France, filling my bottle in hotel rooms as I go.
Throughout France you'll find bakeries and small stands selling baguette sandwiches,
quiche, and pizza-like items to go for about €4. Usually filling and tasty, they also stream-
line the picnic process. Here are some sandwiches you'll see:
Fromage
(froh-mahzh): Cheese (white on beige).
Jambon beurre
(zhahn-bohn bur): Ham and butter (boring for most, but a French
classic).
Jambon crudités
(zhahn-bohnkrew-dee-tay):Hamwithtomatoes,lettuce,cucumbers,and
mayonnaise.
Pain salé
(pan sah-lay) or
fougasse
(foo-gahs): Bread rolled up with salty bits of ba-
con, cheese, or olives.
Poulet crudités
(poo-lay krew-dee-tay): Chicken with tomatoes, lettuce, maybe cu-
cumbers, and always mayonnaise.
Saucisson beurre
(saw-see-sohn bur): Thinly sliced sausage and butter.
