InterMarche

 Everyone has their passions.

 Mine is visiting supermarkets as long as they are not in the US

 Rural France has amazingly huge and delightful supermarkets

 It's a great way to get a broad spectrum of what the local artisanal products are. Though you would do far better to buy at the weekly marche de producteurs. I didn't have the chance so I raced around the Intermarche shooting right and left. Honey/miel is made here in the Charantes.

 The nearby famed summer resort, L'ile de Re has salt beds much like Normandy

 Plus there is wonderful butter in the Charantes

 Throw great butter + salt together and what do you get?

 Caramel to-die-for in every form and manner.

Miam miam

 This is galette country much like the north with so much beurre to play fling about liberally.

 I'd have loved to try these galettes with prunes or pomme...

 Or these biscuits pleine de beurre.

 I didn't see any home grown macarons in this town of 5,000. But Biff found my single Arnaud Larhrer pistachio macaron lurking in my bag. The dog has refined taste. We had to pry his jaws open to retreive it. Miraculously it was unbroken! A gentle thief is dear Biff.

 Back to the delicious shelves of the Intermarche. Chevre/goat cheese is another local specialty in every form - logs, pyramids, raw, you name it.

 Outside you remember you are not in Paris, though I will be this afternoon.

 For more of Karen Wheeler's entertaining stories of living in the French hinterlands get a copy of Living France Magazine.

Everything you wanted to know about moving to France lies within.

A bientot PBers!