Philbillie's Double-Wide: Fraternite', Egalite', Supermarche'!

Shopping in France is really fun. And there are two ways to go about it: the weekly marche' can be found in just about every small town, especially in the more rural, aggie areas. It's just a bunch of stalls set up for the day, usually in the town square. Here you will find a selection of foodstuffs that are, by and large, straight from the local producers and so is not only the freshest possible, but it will, of course, reflect the various regional differences of which France has such a staggering diversity. The marche' is usually colorful and lively and sometimes downright beautiful especially in certain places like Provence. This has been going on pretty much the same way as far as I can tell for centuries and it still works just great.

The other way is the SUPERMARCHE'. This is a concept that was taken directly from the good 'ol USA and it is pretty much what you would expect, although for the first few times you see it here it's so surprising that it actually seems like quite a novelty. And, of course, the french being the french, they have imbued the whole thing with their own unique Je Ne Sais Quoi. It's not only the retail outlets, either: they seem to have really taken to the whole consumerist creed that we have forged so singularly. So I derive great amusement from how they sometimes interpret the ideas of product concept, packaging and marketing. It can sometimes be so clunky that it's funny and it can sometimes be quite prosaic.

So from time to time I will share a few of my discount discoveries here in the hopes that you'll maybe even gain an understanding of some subtler aspects of our beret'd buddies.

Food is obviously a big subject in France and we'll get to that department.

But first, let's get a few personal items:

Here's a nice shirt although I don't find anything particularly funny about it. Unless by "FunnyBoy" you are talking about the fellas in San Francisco who are referred to as "Bears".

And I'm pretty sure that a dress with this brand name
would be a really tough sell in America.

"Dim? Maybe so, but what a pair 'o gams!"

Pushing our cart over to the Toiletries aisle we find...

For that "Essence of Plumber" scent that really drives the gals wild.

OK, we've worked up a pretty good appetite and it's time to throw some chow in the cart.

First up is some breakfast cereal:Ah, yes! The breakfast of champions:
"Gee, mom can I have some more?
Aw, come on...
Just a little taste, mom?..
JUST GIMME THE F****N CEREAL BEFORE I CUT YOU, BE-YATCH!!!