Buying groceries on a Sunday? Advice needed
 

Our flight will be arriving at 11:30 a.m. on a Sunday morning. We have booked an apartment near the Madeleine metro station in the 8th eme. I would like to stock up on some food on Sunday because we will be going to Disneyland Paris all day Monday and Tuesday. From what I understand, grocery stores and Monoprix are closed on Sundays and the open markets are only open in the morning.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Franprix has a store at 1-3 rue de Penthièvre 75008 which their site says is open on Sundays from noon-7pm.

There are alimentaires all over Paris that are open obscenely late every night of the week. Don't know of any in your particular area, but am sure you'll find one.

Thanks for your help. I've never been to a Franprix but am excited to check it out. I'll google the location.

Glad to know about the alimentaires. I'll keep my eyes out for one.

It's just a smallish grocery store, a lot of them aren't that great, actually (Franprix). Some Monoprix stores are actually open on Sundays, although mostly in the suburbs. In Paris, I think the Beaugrenelle Monoprix in the 15th arr. is the only one open on Sundays, but only until around noon, so that won't help. The Monoprix on the Champs-Elysees isn't that far from the Madeline and it' open until midnight every day but Sunday. The Monoprix in the 9th, behind the dept stores on Caumartin is open until 11 pm, also, Mon-Sat., just in case.

When you are in Paris, do not go to Monoprix. It is like Woolworth. Better go to your neighbourhood boulangerie, to your neighbourhood patisserie, to your neighbourhood charcuterie, to your neighbourhood alimentation and enjoy the wealth of fresh, homemade, high-quality food and a nice chat with the owner!

All true, traveller 1959, but none of them will be open on Sunday, except perhaps the boulangerie in the morning.

Franprix and the mini-monoprix's are a bit like 7-11 in the US or what, Spar?, in the UK. Necessities, not much else. Fortunately, things like pate are considered necessities in France. In my experience, you can buy coffee, milk, sugar, crackers, cereal, cheeses, cold cuts, and some very tired vegetables, but you won't be seeing fresh meat etc. The larger Monoprix's have clothing and household goods as well as full grocery stores, often underground, but they are the ones not likely to be open on Sunday.

I would suggest you buy staples, go to the bakery first thing Monday morning, and hit the neighborhood shops late Monday afternoon. Many seem to close after lunch, then reopen to serve people on the way home from work.

Great suggestions. Any idea what time a boulangerie opens during the week?

Monoprix isn't remotely like a Woolworth's, unless they are different in some other country (I only know Woolworths in the US, but actually I thought they were out of business). It's more like a Target, in general. However, the main issue is they usually have large, nice grocery stores in them and Woolworths has no grocery store. All the MOnoprix grocery stores I've been in were pretty nice as far as supermarkets go. I'm sure some are not so good, but some are huge and very good.

They are convenient, but I wouldn't go out of my way to go to Monoprix for a baguette, for example. But a lot of the stuff you can buy in a supermarket is packaged or perfectly fine in a large supermarket. There is a much better selection than a small store.

I wouldn't call Franprix like a 7-11, though, at least not all of them. None of the ones I've seen are like a 7-11, but they are kind of small and sometimes rundown. But they are definitely full grocery stores, not like a 7-11. the miniMonops are very different, of course, and not a regular full store. Last Fall I rented an apt. right on rue Mouffetard, for example, which has great individual shops (fromageries, boulangeries, etc.) but sometimes if you came home late they were all closed and if you needed something, you'd go into the Franprix at the bottom of the hill. It was very crowded, lots of the neighborhood were in there at night. It was a regular supermarket, not like a 7-11, but not a nice big modern one.

oh, a lot of boulangeries open around 7 am.

Thanks, Christina, for your informative post. It's just the information I needed.

Franprix is my supermarket of choice and plenty of them are open on Sunday now. It's a lot cheaper than Monoprix and guess what -- it's owned by the same company.

You can find the Franprix stores and their hours and days on the website -- www.franprix.fr

Ditto kerouac and Franprix for Sunday shopping.

A note about Disneyland Paris and food (we went in December). Or more accurately, a note about people visiting Disneyland Paris. We were astounded by the number of people who brought their own food, and lots of it, to Disneyland. The train ride back into Paris that night was hilarious, a true movable feast, with people sharing sandwiches, elaborate snacks, fruit, drinks and wine left over from the long day.

I don't know that we would go that route if/when we go again. For one thing, we would have had to buy an ice chest! If you are used to the food prices at Disney U.S., they are comparable or a little better at Disney Paris. Try the croque monsieurs at Victoria's (and I'm sure other places) at the end of Main Street, and I have to say the Cafe au Laits were excellent, even though we saw when we ordered our second one that they were made from a mix!

Everyone, I really appreciate your feedback. I will definitely look for a Franprix but also keep an eye out for a boulangerie too.

laughingd2, thank you for your insight of Disneyland Paris. Yes, we are used to American Disney food prices since we are annual passholders at Disneyland, so I'm glad to hear there won't be any surprises in the cost of food at DLRP. Funny, I thought food wasn't allowed to be brought into Disneyland Paris like in America. I'm on vacation, so I will just enjoy trying the different restaurants and checking out the theming. Will definitely try the croque monsieurs. I've seen pictures and they look tasty.

One of the first things that Disneyland Paris learned after opening was that there was absolutely no way to stop people from bringing their own food.

They quickly lowered their food prices but they have learned to live with the picnicking masses.