Carrefour

I snapped this pic on my phone this afternoon at Carrefour. What is Carrefour you ask? Some exotic fish market? Nope. Carrefour is France's version of a Super Wal-Mart. There are 2 or 3 in the immediate area. Food is different here, that's all there is to it and the Carrefour is a great place to notice this.

There are 4 different sections in which I can find cheese. One is pre-packaged cheeses that they cut in house, another is with a worker behind the counter that takes orders, the third is a section of brand name pre packed cheeses more like you would see in the U.S, and the fourth is an isle of fresh cheeses like fromage blanc (think cottage cheese put in a blender) Amazingly, each one of the first of these 3 sections has more options than any U.S. Grocery store I have ever been to.

Right now you're probably saying "The French love cheese?! What a news flash". I know, I know it's no secret, but you have to see it to even try to understand it.

The bad news is that we are probably going to O.D. on cheese very soon. I took this picture of my pint sized refrigerator the other day just for fun. I have a shelf that holds nothing but cheese. Now, a true Frenchman would be gasping right now, becuase they don't normally put cheese in such modern equipment. They leave it out with their eggs like normal people. ???? Still haven't wrapped my brain (which contains a semester of Microbiology) around that one.

Anyway, at the time of the photo, my "cheese shelf" was holding the following. Gruyere, Comte, Parmasean Reggiano, baby bella's (for the kids), Roquefort (France's most popular bleu), some form of chevre (goat cheese) and a camembert. We all eat these regularly, except for the camembert. I'm really the only one who eats this. It stinks a little. I accidently bought a special camembert. It had been soaked in some sort of cider and aged. It tasted fine as long as you only breathed through your mouth. Eventually I had to throw it out because it made the house stink everytime I opened the refrigerator. Actually I only indirectly threw it out. I first tried to use it on a potato dish, then, after much complaining by Lane, I threw it out.

Back to the Carrefour. It's an adventure everytime I go, uless I'm only searching for things I previously found, but what fun would that be. Take today's trip for example. I decided to buy some lettuce. A simple task, except I knew that at Carrefour you must weigh and tag your own produce prior to heading to the checkout. I've never forgotten to do this simply because I fear hitting the checkout line and having to converse about the problem. The problem today was that lettuce is sold by the piece. So do I need to tag it or will they know it at the checkout? Not wanting to experience the aforementioned conversation, I employed a technique used by many a imported citizen. Wait and watch. Luckily I noticed a woman who appeared to be in the mood for some lettuce. Unluckily she was undoubtedly French. Frech women pick out produce like most people pick out cars. They kick the tires, take it for a spin, and get a good whiff. I had to pretend to look at shallots for a good 4 minutes while she selected the right head of lettuce. Then just as she was about to do so, a stock boy roars in with a cart of onions, which, as you know, go right next to the shallots. I didn't get the chance to see if she tagged it because I and my (4 wheel pivoting) cart were fleeing for our life. I did not wait around for another French woman to come along, as I had to pick up the kids in an hour.