...some ramblings about French fuel and bread nowadays
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Yesterday I did something that I'd been thinking of doing for nearly a week. I drove our old Peugeot over to our local SuperU supermarket and and filled the car's tank with diesel fuel. It was down to about a quarter full. The Citröen has about half a tank of diesel fuel in it, and I may go fill it up next week if I can.
And yes, the supermarket is where you go to fill your car's fuel tank if you live around here. There are no longer any service stations in the Saint-Aignan area. We used to have a couple, but they but they closed down years ago.
I had been watching reports of possible fuel shortages on the news for while. Prices have been going up too, to about double the price of diesel fuel a month or two ago. I decided the time had come for a fill-up. We can't really live here without a car to go shopping in, even though we have three local supermarkets, each one not more than a three-mile drive from our house. Walking to one of them would take some time, though, and it wouldn't be easy to bring a good supply of groceries back home on foot.
I didn't know what I'd find when I drove to the supermarket. Long lines of cars waiting to fuel up was one possible scenario. Another was pumps closed down because of shortages. There are a dozen or so pumps at the SuperU filling station (for high-test gasoline and regular gas, as well as diesel fuel). I've heard that diesel fuel is in especially low supply right now. Sure enough, at least one of the diesel pumps was not working. Payment is by credit or debit card.
However, I decided to drive over there at about 7 a.m. because I thought that might a time when other people were not out and about yet. In fact there wasn't a single car at the filling station when I got there. One other car drove in a few minutes after I got there. Leaving the gas station, I had a thought: What about bread? It would be good to lay in a supply so we wouldn't have to waste fuel every other day or so driving around to find an open boulangerie. The two bread bakeries remainiing in Saint-Aignan were not yet open at that early hour, so I drove to the village on the other side of the river. The boulangerie there was open.
We buy several baguettes at a time and keep them in the freezer at home to avoid having to drive to a boulangerie several times a week.They thaw well and are good, but they're not as good as fresh baguettes. When we came to live here 20 years ago, there were six boulangeries within two miles of our house. Nowadays, there's only one. All the others have shut down one by one over the years. I think most people buy their bread at the supermarket. Unless you live in a big city, well... la vie en France n'est plus ce qu'elle a été...
People love the supermarkets, everything they need under one roof. They sell baguettes cheaper than the boulangerie. Although they’re frequently not as good people buy them because I suppose the cost and convenience matters more than the taste. Hence the independents shut up shop because they can’t make a living and the supermarket is all that’s left. It’s the same in the UK and I imagine everywhere.
ReplyDeleteJean, I'm sure you are right. We often buy bread at Intermarché, for example. But we also to buy bread from artisan bakers. Problem is, there are fewer and fewer of them in business as time passes.
DeleteI forgot to write about or mention that when we first came to live here, we had bread delivered to our front door from the village boulanger's shop for several years. The bread lady drove up, tooted her horn, and we went out and bought what we wanted. That service ended years ago. A new baker bought the business and decided that delivery wasn't making him any money. So he cut it.
DeleteYou had a bread delivery once and I had milk delivered to my door once. Those days are gone but we will get by.
ReplyDeleteI remember when the milkman would come and leave a quart or two of milke on our front porch.
DeleteI guess these kinds of changes stick, as generations start knowing them as the only thing they've ever lived... they have nothing, really, to compare them to, no idea of the quality differences, or the social / cultural differences. It's a shame. I feel like I have observed, over my lifetime, that many social/lifestyle changes seemed to take hold in France about 10 years after they started in the U.S.... things like television, for example. In 1981-82, TV in France was still mostly just three stations, and some of that wasn't even airing at night. Whereas, in the U.S., cable TV had started to really take hold, and, instead of just having ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, and a couple of local stations, suddenly there were 50 stations or more (and, now we are seeing the horrendous effect of things like pretend "news" stations [i.e. Fox News] popping up as part of that out-of-control growth). That kind of thing for TV didn't take hold until well after the early 1980s, in France. Similarly, with shopping... mom-and-pop stores and downtown shopping in downtown areas of a local town, started to give way to malls, in the big suburban areas, and to just WALMART in rural areas... WALMART has so much affected the rural America shopping scene.
ReplyDeleteIndependent bakeries, here in the U.S., started dying away probably 20 years ago... they just started making them in the grocery stores... and in Walmart... and small bakeries were fewer and fewer in number. But, upcoming generations didn't experience the quality differences... like, for cakes... the nasty icing that is used nowadays in any commercially-bought cakes, is so plastic tasting. No such thing as a real buttercream frosting... except in the few specialty French bakeries in some of the major cities or major suburban areas (we have one near me).
And, some things happen in reverse... they stay in place in France, or start in France, 10 years or so ahead of the U.S.... like, fashion. Shoe styles, and overall fashion trends (especially for women), lag behind in the U.S., from what we see in Paris. I imagine that's something that you don't pay much attention to, Ken, understandably :) But, as a teacher, watching teenagers and their fashion trends changing over 40 years of teaching, everything starts in Paris... and, often, by the time it hits the rural and suburban areas of the U.S., it is watered down and cheapened in quality and style.
The coffee-drinking culture is another big one, oddly. In 1982, when I returned from France, it was almost unheard of to find espresso or cappuccino available anywhere in the U.S., except maybe in restaurants in Manhattan. Whereas, café culture was still a big, everyday part of life in France. Little by little, starting in the 90s, in the U.S., places like Starbucks starting popping up, and now, plain old American style coffee is rare in the life of MANY young people... teens through 20-30 somethings. They all go to Starbucks, or Panera, or some of the new companies, and they ... every day... buy a huge, oversweetened, overflavored espresso-strength coffee drink... no making coffee at home with a drip coffee maker. And, of course, once again, the whole concept is bastardized and overdone here... no small espressos ... everything is HUGE, and expensive. It's all kind of nuts, if you've observed it over decades.
One nice thing that has come back, here, in the U.S., is open-air markets. They, too, were pretty much unheard of in the U.S. in the 1980s, but, in the decades since, little by little, they have become a real part of American life in many areas.
That's it for today's installment of: "Judy observes" LOL
Nice comment Judy. It was fun to read. I too remember those TV days and when the few stations we had would sign off at 11 pm for the night. Then came the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, that was fun.
DeleteKen, gas prices are up quite a bit here. We last paid $6,59 a gallon for premium and regular is over $6.00 now pretty much everywhere, but that's in CA. Everyone is looking for a hybrid or electric car.
Hi Diogenes :) Gas prices here in Missouri are higher than a month ago, but we run about $2/gallon less all the time, than your CA prices.
DeleteWe think alike in many ways, Judith. I just filled up with regular at Costco last week ($43 - I drive a 19 year-old Honda Fit that I bought new. I get 32+ mpg in town - but I have never had a full tank cost that much during those 19 years. I know, because I record each purchase in a little notebook I keep in my glove box). There are many European - styled bakeries here! A big demand for tasty treats, I only frequent them infrequently, and mostly shop at the big groceries for my daily bread. Still choosing a dense, whole-wheat more German-variety bread for my sandwiches. I subscribe to Comcast (hate it) and only have basic service plus internet. My tv viewing is mostly limited to PBS Public Broadcasting Service where I enjoy their Masterpiece Theater offerings and many mystery series. No FOX entertainment faux news for me! I have never seen their shenanigans. I am a shopper - but those days shopping on the city streets is long gone here. Up until high school we had a small sampling of small ladies clothes shops from low - priced to high available - but now probably less than 10 and all high priced selections in those places. My choices are mostly from my closet and then I do add sweaters and pants bought at Costco or even our Kroger (Fred Meyer's here) Big Box Stores. I do follow fashion in Paris, Milano and Londen on the internet to see the trends and then frequently sew a variation - perhaps a blouse or pants. No more dresses for me! Joannes Fabric Stores closed and thank goodness (or thank the devil!) I have my own stash of fabric that will probably go with me into the 'wild blue yonder' - hopefully above and not below! I drink coffee at home and only when invited out drink from the coffee shops - I usually have 1/2 cup of coffee with 1/2 cup of low-fait milk so paying in a store is really outrageous in my mind! My days are happy ones - I live for pickleball and seeing all my friends there! The internet allows me to travel the world if only in make-believe! I have my cat. My daughter, her partner and I are socially active - we went out for Tex-Mex last Friday and had margaritas. Next weekend we will drive to visit The Oregon Garden with my daughter's Daughters of Norway group. We did go to the movies last week - The Devil Wears Prada 2 - last movie was Barbie. We don't go to movies much, either! Perfer watching at our homes online. Just 30 years ago, life was really different from today.
ReplyDeleteLet's just cross our fingers this administration does not succeed in all the things that they say they want to do and before they get voted out. I am thoroughly flummoxed about our future here. And my future. Not very happy here and it seems to be scary everywhere else as well. Ken and Walt's blogs are a pleasant diversion I look forward to reading. Keep me going, you, two! And the rest of you commenters! Sometimes it feels like we are in a lockdown like it was with COVID.
I forgot to tell you the price for gas. Last week I filled up at $4.999/gallon. The next day the price for regular went up to $5.099/gallon.
ReplyDelete