Fanny packs are cool in France and the milk and eggs aren't refrigerated in the store.

I went to a huge grocery store today with Michele. It was every man for himself in this store, almost total anarchy. It's their equivalent to our Wal-mart. Only, if you can imagine, more crowded and chaotic. They had a fish section in which you could buy entire fish that had just been caught. They had a butcher section for meat (much like here) but the milk and eggs are sold on a regular isle just like the one American's use for juice or cereal. They don't refrigerate their milk until it's opened. Also, the containers in which the milk comes are much smaller than the gallon or 1/2 gallon we purchase. It's more like a liter. And speaking of liter, their soda comes in 1 liter bottles rather than 2 liter bottles. The wine is also cheaper than the soda--the wine is about 1,50 E and the soda is about 3,00 E. All produce sold in stores must have a sign stating from which country the fruits and vegetables were imported. When they purchase produce, they weigh it themselves and put the price on the bag (please note my angst-like expression as I tried to find avocados on the scale); the cashier does not do this at the register. You pay for the bags at the store or you bring your own from home. Also, there is no one to bag your groceries for you--you must do that yourself. Furthermore, you must put a Euro in the cart to use it. You notice in the picture, there is a slot for the money and an escalator that takes you down to the store. Once you return the cart to the correct place, you get your Euro back. So, this means the store does not pay people to collect carts in the parking lot--who wants to pay the equivalent of $1.53 for a cart every time they shop? No one probably, so they put the carts back when they finish.