We live in a middle-sized city and there are two fish shops. One is the kind of place you might expect Rick Stein to shop and doesn't really sell workaday fish for normal families if you know what I mean. The other is apparently the city's pride and joy. I went there once, it reeked so I left. I was always brought up that if fish smells it a'int fresh. The **only** place for nearly a million of us to buy fish is at one branch of Tescos... and then really only when one lady's working there who seems to take a pride in her stall.
They're always telling us to eat more fish. I would if I could!
Liz
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One of the main reasons we bought a cadac this year. Cooking fish in the van always makes it stink but now we can cook outside easily and buy loads of seafood without getting a smelly van!
I tried to buy some mussels last weekend - - seems to be not possible in Leics!
We LURVE the fish kebabs done on the BBQ. Actually all the fish and fresh veg available in French supermarkets, make the British supermarket offerings look very tired. We don't find French living expensive, but we are on holiday and at that time we eat what we want - the best, we don't stint ourselves and slow cooking is not really my thing when abroad. Clothing doesn't appear cheap but I don't go there for clothes. Fuel is cheaper than the UK. Swings and Roundabouts I suspect.
dead right again - and some of the the real bargains are the flatfish from fish markets, the French don't seem to like them (?) so plaice and sole etc are real giveaways- a few euros and you could feed the 5000 (no, I am not the messiah, I'm just a very naughty boy!).
Boy am I hungry again! fish kebabs for starters, moulles a la creme for seconds, lobster for thirds, plaice for fourths, langoustines for fifths, and a seafood cocktail for sixths. Wonder if the froggies do a crevettes trifle to finish!!?? (The order of those doesn't seem quite right , but you get the message!!)
Is there such a thing as a seafood cheese, or seafood coffee or seafood cigar?? The mind boggles!!!
Enjoy that lovely French food- it's a long time to next summer but the thought of it makes life worth living!! And the cigars are cheap as well!
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Hi, we holiday down the road in Carnac in a little side road in Beaumer, Super U is expensive but the E Le Clerc Supermarche in Auray up the road is cheap........difference between Somerfield and Tesco! Trinite Sur Le Mer and Carnac are really Knightsbridge on Sea and my two weeks of pleb free living a year.....it's a very expensive part of France, the houses are London prices! France is not expensive for food...........try the market in Trinite, Carnac or Auray. Don't forget the French eat a lot less than we do and there food is of a fantastic quality. There are plenty of restaurants on the harbour front in Trinite where Fruit de Mer for two is £20, and the standard Moule Frite is around a fiver! It's fresh and local and the service is always good. I also look out for the menu formule in Le Clerc...........10 euros for a three course lunch, around 7 pounds! France is expensive but quality costs...don't forget our supermarkets sell us cheap rubbish, bought in from anywhere in the world they can exploit...........
------------- Of course I don't only do it for the 5 weeks in France!
Quote: Originally posted by Pennine Plodder on 08/9/2006
We LURVE the fish kebabs done on the BBQ. Actually all the fish and fresh veg available in French supermarkets, make the British supermarket offerings look very tired.
Same As Italy.
Re The Superb Fish Kebabs. We bought some in Italy wih one of the fish cubes being the texture of squid. It could'nt have been squid because it was a solid cube of around 1 1/2 inches (4 cms in this new fangled currency)
Anyone help with what it may have been?
I noticed this year when beef was on restaurant menus the emphasis was on 'French' meat. I think it all comes down to us thinking the grass is greener on the other side (of the channel) but the French pay more in direct and indirect taxes for living costs (maybe someone could confirm this or otherwise) but they can still eatout and drink well for far less than we can over here and that's what going on holiday is all about!
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Quote: Originally posted by fowey57 on 09/9/2006
Hi, we holiday down the road in Carnac in a little side road in Beaumer, Super U is expensive but the E Le Clerc Supermarche in Auray up the road is cheap........difference between Somerfield and Tesco! Trinite Sur Le Mer and Carnac are really Knightsbridge on Sea and my two weeks of pleb free living a year.....it's a very expensive part of France, the houses are London prices! France is not expensive for food...........try the market in Trinite, Carnac or Auray. Don't forget the French eat a lot less than we do and there food is of a fantastic quality. There are plenty of restaurants on the harbour front in Trinite where Fruit de Mer for two is £20, and the standard Moule Frite is around a fiver! It's fresh and local and the service is always good. I also look out for the menu formule in Le Clerc...........10 euros for a three course lunch, around 7 pounds! France is expensive but quality costs...don't forget our supermarkets sell us cheap rubbish, bought in from anywhere in the world they can exploit...........
Hi thanks for that info, we did wonder if we were just in a particularly expensive part of Brittany because we hadn't noticed the high prices before. We never said we were unhappy with the choice of food or the quality and freshness of the food on offer, just that we had found it expensive. We still ate out and it was reasonably priced and good quality. The fruit tarts are to die for and the fresh fish was excellent. It's just when you see a punnet of strawberries on sale at 6.95 euros you start to think they're having a laugh. We didn't buy them of course, you'd be stupid to, even if you are on holiday and a couple of days later in a different supermarket we found some at just a couple of euros so bought two!!
small businesses pay more than UK, esp for employing staff - so most small firms stay as family businesses. Bigger firms pay less than we do! Customs duty inparticular is cheaper than in UK ( fuel alcohol etc). Property annaul taxes (Rates) is a fraction of what we pay here, but if you sell a house as a speculator you pay more taxes on buying and selling (not if you live inthe thing for a long time).
Health insurance is private, yet is much cheaper than private health care here, and with less exclusions.
Complex, but comparing liek with like in my opinon France is overall 20% cheaper than here.
And you have a greater sense of freedom in mho. No speeding cameras, parking pay and display machines, less CCTV surveillance......
Geoff
------------- Veni Vidi Velcro.... I came, I saw, I stuck around!
There's no road tax over here. We pay car insurance which is generally 25-30% less than the UK. We pay 'taxe fonciere' and 'taxe d'Habitation', those two combined for our place (which encompasses 11 bedrooms, 4 acres of land and 3 houses) is less than we paid in Community Tax for a terrace house in the UK! Water rates....we were dreading our water bill for this place. A caravan site with 3 gites etc...guess how much? Less than £380! That's after filling the pool with 22'000 litres of water! Electricity is about on a par with the UK though. Our gas is bottled gas for the hobs, and that's 25% cheaper than in the UK too. Food is slightly less expensive than the UK, while things like clothes are more expensive. It does depend to a large extent where you shop. La Halle in Angers is our equivalent to Primark! Live as the French live and you're ok. Live as a Brit abroad and you'll pay through the nose for the pleasure is what we've found!
Sorry, but 'rip off' Britains loses it's shine for me when we do the sums!
Hey SilverLining "no speeding cameras", where have you been in France? They are cropping up all over France and the Gendarmes jump out of the bushes with their radar speed guns!!
We have the one fixed speed camera on the road into Saumur. Everyone knows it's there. It's signposted a good way before you see it. It's HUGE, not like the spindly little things they hide behind signs, or trees in the UK. Mobile ones are about, but nowhere near as often as I saw them in the UK. Plus, they're usually in plain sight, and on a route that's well-known for speed related accidents. The ethos here is on preserving life, not raising cash from the motorist.
"Hey SilverLining "no speeding cameras", where have you been in France? They are cropping up all over France and the Gendarmes jump out of the bushes with their radar speed guns!!"
Well I admit it - Im a Normandy fan. Seems very easy going there.
Just compare it to the UK, no contest. I did the A5 the other week. Appalling.
Why dont they just admit that these are stealth tax machines?
------------- Veni Vidi Velcro.... I came, I saw, I stuck around!
This year we saw many speed cameras on dual carriageways particularly around towns, some were well signed but we came across some others with no warning. They are all listed on the routes produced by "Mappy" though.
We also saw a big operation near a roundabout in Calais. There were several Gendarmes hauling in motorists who were caught by a hand held radar gun as they rounded a corner not far from the roundabout.
The cameras are still not as prolific as here but each year we go to France they seem to have installed more. It has become quite noticable that the French do not seem to drive as fast as they used to.
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: France Getting Expensive ?
