"S" is for Supermarkets and Other Shopping

"Tested" egg recipe....tasty!

Fish dept in Metz supermarket

Well, I do not complain about going grocery shopping here, so I really like to visit different grocery stores in my travels. Once when I was traveling in the Toulouse area, we visited a market which advertised farm fresh eggs. So we bought a dozen of those and then a dozen of the (not fresh?) other eggs. We ran a "taste test", and I did think I could taste a difference! You will want to check the hours which the stores are open, as sometimes even the European markets will close mid-day, just as the smaller shops do. Last September when I was on Sardinia, the market was open on Sundays. However, at the end of my stay, and clearly when they thought summer tourists had gone home, the market was no longer open on Sundays.
Because there are so many different things available in European shops, you might want to visit shops as you travel. (Somewhere I read that shopping is at the top of the list as to what travelers do when they travel...not the top, but at the top. I was surprised.) Your guidebook will have included the top shops by category, so you might find that helpful. When I was on Sardinia, I wanted to visit a bookstore with books in English. Fodor had listed one in Sassari, but unfortunately when I got there, it was closed for the mid-day break. I just didn't want to wait for an hour. Luckily I could download a book onto my Kindle! I do advise looking into the shopping options so you can plan to visit those places you want to! Most will take credit cards, but not all, so you will want to check that out.
Once when I was in Paris, I heard about some designer outlet, which I did find, but their definition of outlet and mine were many euros apart!
An interesting feature of European shopping is that they tend to have two big sale periods. One is in January, and the other is in June. (However, this may have changed, as our stores have done, so everything always seems to be on-sale!)

Check back when I next talk about telephones and trip planning. As always, I welcome your comments and questions!