By Rob!!

Re: hi all
08 Sep 2008 11:50

Replies

By Rob!!

Re: hi all
08 Sep 2008 11:52

....well, back from my camping trip to France...had loadsa foodie questions, some of which I have posted on other threads here already...the wine was gorgeous, as was the food...apart from seeing the brains all nicely packaged next to the burgers....but enough about them!!

managed to bring back a fair bit of wine from the region...and as TDS pointed out on another thread...am sure they keep the best stuff to themselves lol...but hey...not anymore...their secret is out :-)

anyway...weather was mostly fine, tent lasted well, and the intrpeid OH appeared to enjoy himself...but enough of my ramblings...something to consider.....

...we did a bit of food shopping in France, and although I am by no means an expert...the price of food did appear a lot cheaper then here in the UK. Now, I know we have some guys here who live in France, so I dont know about price rises etc...but all this talk by our dearly beloved present govt about global price rises got me thinking that actually, prices in France are still cheaper than here...I bought 2 fair sized chicken breasts for about £1.50...so much cheaper...what do other people think? food prices in this country unfairly inflated, or what???

xxx :-)

By Liz from Cumbria

Re: hi all
08 Sep 2008 12:13

We're not known as "rip off Britain" for nothing Rob! More fools us for putting up with it and buying over-priced goods. Mind you, not buying when it comes to food, means we either starve or grow/raise our own I suppose.

By The Dinner Service

Re: hi all
08 Sep 2008 12:20

So glad you had a good time Rob. Did you get some decent weather?
I first went to France in 1977 and have been in love with it ever since. In those days I never ate garlic or any "foreign muck" as my dad would have called it. Oh how times have changed!
DS XXX

By Rob!!

Re: hi all
08 Sep 2008 12:20

too right Liz...I think what is galling tho, is when talking about food prices, we are consistently told that it is a world wide problem...now, I dont know if prices have gone up in other countries, and I would hate to deny them their own financial struggles...but needless to say, my own limited experience last week showed me that prices are still cheaper elsewhere, and the over inflated price, we pay here, compared to France at least, can surely not be justified

xx

By sandrak

Re: hi all
08 Sep 2008 12:24

Rob
Sorry but the way the French are going this is totally unsustainable. Their economy has been pillowed by government for decades as their president tries to explain. We do not have the same ethos in the UK, am sure you will find in a few years food will be on a par. This is not a political statement - merely my view !

By Biggles

Re: hi all
08 Sep 2008 12:31

Glad you had a super time. Did you get much rain while you were here?
Many of the ex-pats are complaining about inflation, not surprising when you look at the pound against the euro !
I think prices are rising here but nowhere in the region of the UK. Motoring fuel prices go up, but then they come down again, very unlike the UK !
Don't forget Rob, France does not import anywhere near the amount of foodstuffs (or anything, especially from the Pacific RIm) that the UK does. Seasonal food is the watch word. Want a melon out of season, tough. Bananas are more readily available than a year ago.
Also many French, even in towns, still grow much of their own veggies.
I still think pasta, washing powder and Olive Oil are soooo much cheaper over here. And YES, Rob they do keep the best and best priced wine over here. In a few weeks many of the supermarkets will be offering very quaffable wine at totally ridiculous prices. Apparently thats the time to stock up :0)
Biggs

By Jo Hill, Editor

Re: hi all
08 Sep 2008 14:10

Welcome back Rob! Agree about the rip off Britain statement. We pay through the nose for everything here - maybe it's time to reject imported food. Of course it costs more if it has to be shipped/freighted halfway across the world.

By choccygill

Re: hi all
08 Sep 2008 14:19

Glad you had a good time Rob,I definately agree we are ripped off in the UK,perhaps we are all partly to blame for meekly accepting it ,and not asking the powers that be to explain ,because I don't understand why!!!
X

By Sue G

Re: hi all
08 Sep 2008 15:24

Hello Rob, sounds like you had a good trip, where did you go?.
Regarding food prices. The price of food has gone up here. You really have to shop around to get low prices, even for us with the restaurant, we used to go to the big cash & carry all the time but that finished two years ago. Now we buy dried goods from supermarkets, fish & veg from the markets stall, & meat from our local butcher who give us discount. Cream milk & eggs are they only items we buy in bulk from a dairy company.As Bigs pointed out France is not big on importing goods, most fruit if not grown in France comes from there French islands. We have Amercian neigbours who have a holiday house, for the last two years they say how everything is cheap here, it is only now that they are actually living here full time, do they realise that everything is not that cheap. ( food, electric, gas, taxes, and can't forget medical bills and medical insurance) Wages are alot lower in France than the Uk, plus we have the silly hours that people are supposed to work. Plus taxes are higher here.
If you are retired and have endless money to play with then France is a good place to live. Only last week we heard of another english couple going back,
The grass always looks greener on the other side, until you make the move.
Last point, If France is so great, why do so many young french people move to the UK.

By Sue G

Re: hi all
08 Sep 2008 15:32

Sorry Rob, got carried away. Are you sure you bought chicken and not not turkey, even Lidl don't sell chicken that cheap.
Chicken prices here can range from 2.99 euro from lidl (frozen, very small) to over ten euros in the normal supermarkets, all depends on the brand name.

By Rob!!

Re: hi all
08 Sep 2008 15:37

some interesting points made - esp about economics - some aspects of it I had never really thought of before.

The weather was good for camping - some rainy days, but it all went off swimmingly - although not quite literally you understand! Went to the Loire Valley - a nice region of France, although not sure I would go back again - plent yof other places to explore...am planning on a camping tour of Germany and Switzerland next year - I have friends who live just outside of Bern, would be good to see them again....

Hi Sue G - yes, it was chicken...2 breast fillets for about 2.20 euro...from SuperU...very good value.

xxx

By Sue G

Re: hi all
08 Sep 2008 15:46

Not often i go to SuperU, only when desperate to buy english Fruit & nut chocolat.
From the French side 2.20 euro for chicken is quite high,
Glad the weather stayed nice enough for you, on the news some camp site have been flood, campers had to taken away in the night.

By Crafty Cookie

Re: hi all
08 Sep 2008 19:19

Lovely to have you back Rob, missed your wonderful posts.

Agree with you about the pricing structure. Wish they would stop these bogof and just reduce the price of all the goods by a little.

By Rob!!

Re: hi all
08 Sep 2008 19:23

cheers CC...nice to see ya too :-) i know what you mean about the bogof offers tho - the worst ones are buy 2 for £1 for example...food waste is high enough...I very rarely take those offers unless it is something I use a lot of...and when I then buy only one, i consider it a saving, as not spent the little extra they are trying to get me to spend...if that makes sense...oh, i know what im talking about lol xxxx