Time to go shopping

I am coming to the conclusion that this is no longer a vacation. We are here for a couple of years and can't go out to eat every night. So.....I had to get going and figure out how a Parisian shops.

There are markets on every street.......fruits, vegetables, flowers, breads, and meats. I was not feeling very confident to tackle talking with the owner about what I wanted and was glad to hear there was a Monoprix store two blocks away. This store has popped up in a lot of neighborhoods and is equivalent to a Super Target, only on a smaller scale. So, I decided I better explore it and not be so afraid of shopping in a foreign country. My meager attempt at buying a few things on Sunday at a small market did not work out well. I thought I was buying a tub of yogurt....only to find that it was a tub of butter! How am I supposed to know that "fruit d'or" is butter????

We do not have a car, of course, so I walked the two blocks to the Monoprix. Upstairs there was a huge grocery store. I was amazed at the selection, but still intimidated at not being able to read signs and the French labels. I suddenly realized what immigrants to the U.S. must go through.

I picked out a rotisserie chicken for 8 euros, some potatoes, and green beans for our first meal at home. Now I know why our thin green beans are called French green beans. The beans here are pencil thin....and very good. I bought a bunch, have no idea how much since things are in kilos....but I had to eyeball it. It came to about a euro. Euros now are around $1.50 per euro. I picked up some other things for beef burgoinone tomorrow and went to check out. The cashier was not happy that I hadn't weighed my bananas and beans (how did I know I needed to do that first and get a label?) and went off in a huff to get the label. These French...they seem to have no time for us Americans.

I fixed our first meal at home, and was challenged to figure out the stove....looking up the French words on the stove to figure out "defrost, bake"etc. and then convert from centigrade to Farhenheit! I WILL GET BETTER AT THIS!

Anyway, Lyle came home from work from a busy ride on the metro and we finally had a candellight dinner in our apartment. It's a start.