Day Five of our Frugal Holiday - Shopping in France

 Hello Dear Reader,

I've given up totally on the stupid ipad and I'm back on my rusty lumpy ageing laptop and it's doing a much better job! We needed to get out and about to buy a bit of food today and we cycled up into the old town and went to Lidl. All the canny elderly French people are in there! They know a bargain. For anyone going to France, it's half the price of SuperU. If I had a larger car, I would stock up on all the goods I buy at home at everything was the same price as in the UK but a Euro costs 80p. Effectively, everything is 20% cheaper. We bought what we needed and then went to the local markets. I took photos of this stunning building. The Cultural Centre. It holds classes, the library and community events. It's been been built in the last year, in the middle of an economic down turn and says a lot about civic pride or that the French spend money in the way that sent Greece down the tube?

 It's a stunning building and I noticed children arriving on Saturday with musical instruments, obviously going to classes or clubs. I'm with the French on this one and think that civic amenities are vital for well being.

 Here's the market, selling amongst the tourist crap, good local food. We paid a kidney and a few pints of blood for some local honey, strawberries and bread. We purposefully seek out Bretagne goods and pay more for them, to compensate for the fact that we bring most of what we need with us. It's guilt shopping which we appeased for about ten euros.

 We parked the other side of the perfectly kept local cemetery and I had to stop and read the names of the children who lost their lives in WW1. Small people in my prayers xxx

 Here's the bread, strawberries and honey. I even managed the French to ask for the bread to be sliced - bread is cheap and the two loaves were one euro and seventy cents. They honey was 4.5 euros but it's local and the strawberries are from Auray, which is just up the road.

 Now onto the cheap food in Lidl - goats cheese pizza were one euro each, the salad 95c, creme caramel and creme aux oeufs were 1.29 each (£1ish) and Bretagne tomatoes were 1.35e and the bag of salad was 95c.

 Finally, you will have noticed that I have been sporting a floral headscarf, it's really windy and it keeps my hair out of my eyes when I'm on my bike. I don't advertise but if I like something, then I'll tell you about it. It's from a French company called Papa pique et Maman coud. Like Boden, but much cheaper - had a whiff of Kidston too! Look out for their shops in France. Scarf was not cheap!!! 7 euros! but it'll get good use.

We keep getting heavy showers here - Il pleut de cords and some of our tented neighbours have given up but we're snug and dry in our mobil home! We'll go off in the car later and take ourselves to the headland, even if it's raining, we'll get out and about for a walk and some sea air.

Until later,

Love Froogs xxxx