Ill be in europe next week and i am very curious when u say the Soda is expensive how expensive is it??? COuld someone give me a price range?

I can't say what a soda would cost..never having ordered on..I don't drink them at home.

But I do know I was having a 3 E glass of house wine while my friend drank and 8E glass of orange juice!

Sounds like a thread or two on wine might be very interesting and receive a lot of hits...

dmoore 189: Cost is relative, as other posters have stated already. But I can share how we kept costs down. You did not say how long you were going to be in France, so I don't know if it would be cost effective to do what our family of four did--Upon arrival in France, we purchased a small butane camping gaz, a small quart-sized pan, and a cheapo cup and silverware set per person. An initial shopping trip at a less expensive Supermarche/Hypermarche bought the essentials: mustard/jelly/butter/coffee/tea/hot choc. and instant soup packets/paper towels etc.

Breakfast was purchased as we left the hotel each morning at a local boulangerie/patisserie. After a little drive, we stopped in the country, heated up the butane for tea, hot chocolate or instant coffee and enjoyed the scenery before heading off down the road. Because we stayed off the autoroute, preferring the more scenic byways. we easily picked up picinic goodies for lunch as we passed through small towns. Always fresh, always tasty and certainly less expensive than restaurant dining. We sometimes made hot packaged soups, which hit the spot if the weather was cold (as it was in May and September) If we didn't settle into a hotel early on, we also took an afternoon break. Always kept store-bought cookies/fruit on hand in case we didn't hit another town for fresh treats. Dinner we always dined out, even though it was more expensive. (it seems to me though lately there's less of a price break for lunch vs. dinner in rest.) Obviously, it wwould have been less enjoyable (but do-able) minus the butane at night.

Hints for cheaper restaurant eats: go where the truckers eat! Always affordable and while maybe not gourmet, almost always better than what you get in the States. McDonald's is NOT your friend, except if you're dying for a soda pop with ice. In the heat, we found it worth the money to buy one large and refill it with supermarche-bought litre pop. You can also get all kinds of fruit juices either in bottles or in cartons. If you have any French skills at all, at the supermarket try asking the meat/fish clerk for some ice (la glace) for camping...sometimes they offered to put some in a plastic bag for us w/o charge. We felt like we hit the mother lode at those places! (Small local stores can't do this for your so don't even try.) Creperies are cheap as long as you keep to the simpler (and tastier IMO) crepes w/o all the sauces AND you don't have huge appetites where you'd end up ordering so many you might as well have eaten at a rest.
Cider is the traditional drink for crepes and if you ask for Cidre DOUX (pronounced like the do in "do you") you'll get the slightly bubbly, non-alcoholic version.

Bon appetit!

I'm sorry also if I offended anyone, but I never suggested that dmoore take up drinking, just pointed out that if keeping food costs down was an issue, drinking wine can save a lot over the alternatives. A simple glass of Coke can cost 3-5 euros, and that's as much as, say, one of my kids needs for a nice sandwich for lunch. Also, there ARE people who just have never had a glass of wine for reasons not associated with addiction or religion - and who might want to use a trip to France to try it out.

If someone had said "I don't eat meat" and, in fact, the alternatives to eating meat were a lot cheaper, and the poster were looking to save money, yes, I might have pointed out that eating meat could save them 30 € a day. Obviously that's not true, but I trust you get my point.

And ira, I also disagree about the alcohol content. I have never seen a noticeable difference in alcohol content between France and the US. Sulphur content, tannin content, maybe, but not alcohol content. Still, there is this somewhat mysterious sense that a lot of people, myself included, have that they can drink more wine with less effect when in Europe. I don't think it's chemistry, just the fact that they are on vacation and less stressed and meals are stretched out longer.

dmoore--remember that restaurant prices in France represent a total: no taxes added to the bill and no tip required. Service compris is quasi universal, no need to ask.

St.Cirq: Good California wines tend to have a higher alcoholic content than French wines. My French friends could not understand why the wine here affected them that much until I pointed out that they were drinking 14.5% wines.

California grapes, over the last few years, have had high sugar content which equates to high alcohol. This year's brix on cab, syrah, and merlot, depending upon region, have been 27-28 which equates to high alcohol content in the wine. ((b))