Every now and again a discussion starts up on SF about missing UK products. Responses range from the useful (where to find them in France or online) to the aggressive (“why do you live in France if you don’t want to exist entirely on foie gras and snails…”) Okay, I am exaggerating slightly but you get my drift! And, as an aside, if you are in the latter camp, I suggest you scroll on past now as this post isn’t for you.
Having lived here for nearly 20 years, there are not many things (food or otherwise) that I can’t find or find a substitute for. However, there are items that I source in the UK - Polos and Dettol for the horse and Bovril and Marmite for me. We don’t live in an area where the British market is catered for and I am NOT paying nearly 8 quid for a small jar of Marmite!
So, online it is and for those of you who are in a similar position or would like to order UK favourites, we are delighted to announce that we are now working in affiliation with British Corner Shop. BCS offers a wide range of all your favourites, over 12 000 to be precise, along with books, supplements, and a Waitrose shopping service. Delivery charges to France are reasonable for both dry and chilled goods and most importantly, BCS are a highly professional outfit with a huge warehouse and large staff so your order won’t arrive in a soggy puddle of defrosted chicken as is the wont with some ‘man and a white van’ type shopping services.
Whilst (as most of you know) I am all for shopping locally and direct from the producer, there are occasions where online is the better option. If this is you or you want to treat yourself to some comfort food or are planning a shop for a special occasion, we’ve negotiated a discount code for SF readers. Simply enter SURVIVEFRANCE20 when placing your order to get £20 off your first order over £100.
By the way, we get a small commission from sales made via our promos, it doesn’t cost you any more and you are helping to support the costs of running the site. Thank you and happy shopping!
£20 seemed a tempting offer, until I looked at the prices. 100 Twinnings early grey tea bags for £8.19. They are £5 if you buy the exact same pack in UK from waitrose (let alone Lidl).
Jane, have you ever heard of transport costs ?. There is also another one called “Mouse to House” . Who drinks Earl Grey tea? Its like drinking Gucci or Chanel only warmed up. yuck.
It does seem expensive but if there is something that you just can’t do without and it isn’t available in France then I think it’s worth the extra cost.
When I lived in France me and hubby were big tea drinkers (I still am!) and would easily get through a box of 240 PG Tips per month. No other brand of tea would do!! Yes, PG Tips are available in France but a tiny box of 40 in our local supermarket was about 5€ and we would get through that in a few days.
So it was worth it to us to buy them from British Corner Shop which we did, usually twice a year. We also bought other goodies, despite the cost, that just weren’t available in France or were cheaper than in France. Hubby loved his little tastes of “home” after more than 20 years in France.
Also, if you spend more than £100 delivery is FREE to France. I assume that’s still the case?!
I used to be a product manager for tea and coffee for one of the large brands.
Do you know why Earl Grey tea exists?
One of the first British ambassadors to the Chinese Emperor was an Earl Grey. He said he could not take the post as he abhorred tea and would be forced to drink it with the Emperor.
So they hid the taste of the tea with the oil of bergamot!
So the tea used in Earl Grey is either poor grade or tea whose flavour does not pass the required standard. …as a good tea would simply be wasted.
So there are tea drinkers,…and Earl Grey drinkers ( who may like other teas as well). i personally don’t like Earl Grey but I know many qualified tea drinkers who do!
There is also Coca leaf tea from Bolivia!
Now that is something different!
They sell it openly in hotels and elsewhere…apparently very relaxing!
It allowed my mother to breath again when she got altitude sickness in La Paz. The doctor prescribed it!!!
Don’t try to ship it to Europe though even though it contains very low doses!
Did you know that bolted lettuce contains very low doses of?..ie dont eat a bolted lettuce salad and drive afterwards!
