Shopping

Our grocery shopping is done primarily in three venues - the grocery stores, the boutiques, and the markets. At the larger grocery stores, called 'supermarkets', you can buy imported (usually French) brands, and where we buy things like frozen broccoli, mozzarella cheese and meats, as well as household items such as pots and pans and brooms and mops. This picture is of Crystal shopping in one of the small grocery stores, called a 'superette', near our house. The equivalent of a quick mart in the US, it has the basic items you need to cook with, and of course a good candy selection.

The boutiques are very little stores, usually in someone's one car garage, that compare to the old gas station convenience stores (think of the old 7-11 stores, not the pretty Quiktrip-type stores of today). The boutique we usually shop at is 'Diallo's' (Chase calls him 'Jello') located on the other side of the park in front of our house. There, we buy the necessities, such as bread (French baguettes, of course), sugar, cokes, dish soap, and bleach, all usually in local brands.


The markets are very similar to flea-market shopping. There are small markets, like the one closest to our house (1/2 mile away), and there are HUGE markets that rival the flea-market at Canton, Texas. The picture, which really doesn't give an adequate idea of the size or crowd, is standing on the outside of the market looking in. The market is where we get locally grown vegetables and fruits and grains, like rice, couscous, and beans, but they also have clothes, shoes, appliances, electronics, hardware, school supplies, fish, meat, dishes, and pharmaceuticals. You can get your hair done, find a plumber, watch a street performance by traveling musicians, eat at restaurants or 'fast food', etc. The markets are all indoors, except the stores on the outer edges.