The Hypermarche

July 12, 2007 by Tiffany.

The nearest place of commerce is called Val d’Europe, which is a mall, outlet mall, several restaurants, a train station and a gigantic Walmart-type store called Auchan all in one. I think there might even be a nursery as well. Last night and again today I have ventured to Auchan for various items. Last night I needed to invest in a new hair dryer as mine blew up immediately upon plugging it in, (yes, yes I had the converter and adapter and it worked well last time I was in Europe… can’t say what happened this time). We also bought some food and other provisions. The word for supermarket in French is “supermarche,” but Auchan proudly calls itself a “hypermarche,” I suppose since it is much more than simply a market.  A few things are very different about this market, including the need to pay 1 Euro for a cart outside the market if you’d like anything with which to carry your items. There are hand baskets, but given the immense size of the place in addition to having to pay for a cart, the baskets are indeed a hot commodity.  Plastic grocery bags also must be bought, and you must tell them in advance how many bags you intend to use so they can include them in your total bill.  You have approximately one second to pack your own groceries and you’d better be out.

One cool thing, however, is the stairless escalator on which you can place carts.  Instead of stairs, the escalator is sloped so that carts can also go on the escalator.  Don’t the carts roll, you might ask?  The answer is no!  The wheels on the carts are hollow toward the center and exterior part of the wheel fits perfectly into the grooves of the escalator.  You don’t even need to lock them into place.  It just happens.  Very cool.

I have a feeling I’ll be at the Auchan quite a bit, not only due to proximity but need.  My need today was olive oil to cook chicken for chicken enchiladas tonight.  This will be cooked in the combination microwave/grill, which is in place of a conventional oven.  More about that later.  Wish us luck.

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