Huge supermarkets, big fruits, onions, fat chicken by Norali
Oooh! I could never imagine that supermarkets could be that big. I think we went to Carrefour supermarkets. Bought stuffs. Many stuffs I was not used to: milk powder (used to drink fresh milk), big onions, big fruits, big vegetables, big and fat chicken. Yes, those, at least, were the biggest onions I've ever seen in my life thus far...
Also, I was impressed by the wide range of items cc stationery. I was a schoolkid. I wanted the perfect paper to write on.. les cahiers (notebooks), apple-fragrant Papermate pens. I knew from TV commercials that I'd better buy Clairefontaine (haha.. who wouldn't have wanted to buy it?). My Mum stood firm.. no stationery bought... Indeed, what would be the benefit of buying a cahier "from Paris" if you are going to use a dozen during the school year... Better use the local production for everything (bad quality paper). So went money to something else: visits of Chartres, Versailles and some of the monuments & museums of Paris.That was the first time I saw people reading magazines, comic strips in the shops... Not necessarily Carrefour but also in FNAC...
Yes, just pick what you want to read and you may sit in FNAC shelvings reading it without being warned... Still did that sometimes, in Brussels' GB-Carrefour and Brussels FNAC. That was compared to our supermarkets in Tana where we had employees all over the shops... looking at what you do, preventing you from reading your favourite magazine... And yes, FNAC impressed me for many reasons. It's still one of my fave amongst the many department stores... always things to discover there...
Also, a supermarket I really liked to go to: Monoprix.. I don't know why... maybe because it was smaller? The one I was used to is still on Rue Alésia (14ème).