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Camping holidays, French
Supermarkets
general shopping, bags and rubbish!
This may seem a very unusual topic, but something you really have to think about when you
are going on your family camping holiday in France.
You see, when you go shopping in France at one of the French supermarkets, the first thing
you will probably notice is that you need a Euro in which to get a trolley (although some
places you can also use a 50 cent piece), so make sure you have at least one Euro handy,
as not all supermarkets have baskets!
When you get to the check-out you will normally have to provide some form of
identification such as your passport or one of the new style driving licences (the old
paper versions are not acceptable), if you are paying by credit or debit card, although
cash doesn't cause this same issue.
Also, there are hardly any supermarkets or shops that will provide plastic carrier bags
and the first time in France at the local supermarket we ended up hunting for a box in
which to put all our shopping in. Yet if they do supply carrier bags, you will have
to pay for each one you use, so a good idea is to make sure you bring along some of the
re-useable bags like you now get in the UK, which of course is helping to save the
environment at the same time.
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Now, if you are doing some
touring in France with either your caravan, motorhome or with your car and tent,
then you are likely to have rubbish you need to dispose of along the way. Whilst in
the UK we are used to using dustbin bags, when you are on holiday a dustbin bag is
normally too large because you do not have the space nor the facilities to keep your
rubbish that long - not that you would even want to! So, in essence, do not even
bother with dustbin bags.
Although, the normal bin bags can come in handy, especially if you are staying on one of
the French campsites for a short while, even though now-a-days there are lots of the campsites in France
that now have selective sorting for rubbish, rather than everything going into one bin.
Yet, a very good and easy option, is to make sure you bring with you some plastic carrier
bags or a roll of the small bin bags that you would normally use in a waste paper basket
as these are convenient for the odd small bits of rubbish and will easily fit into any
bin, even when you are travelling through France stopping at one of the many Aires for
lunch, etc.
This way, you do not have to keep hold of the tea bags, odd uneaten sandwiches, left over
fruit, etc that can all give off all those unwanted smells and attract flies until you get
to your destination, especially in the heat of summer and they are easy to store, not
taking up hardly any room in a cupboard within the caravan or motorhome, plus could even
fit into the glove compartment of your car!
Another thought is when you are generally visiting one of the French towns or
villages. So, with this in mind, have you even seen those little packets that you
can buy, which is basically a shopping bag, yet compact and fold up neatly so small that
they will even go into a handbag? Well, we have found that even these are
invaluable, especially if you are visiting one of the French markets or just happen to see
something you wish to buy on the spur of the moment - and personally, a must have item for
when you are visiting France on a camping holiday.
We hope that this has helped you get a little more prepared on a rather strange yet
possibly obvious aspect, but if you have any other comments or scenarios do let us know as
they are always greatly appreciated.
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