Plastic bags for groceries in France?
 

Still anticipating our October trip to Villefranche-sur-mer & environs, but need to know.......

We plan to make a first-day supply run to either the Champion supermarket in Villefranche or the SuperU in Beaulieu-sur-mer. I am a bit of a recycle/re-use nut, so will have about 5 good-sized fabric shopping bags (the kind that fold up to smaller than a wallet sized) with me, and boyfriend will have a backpack. If we buy anything more than these measures can hold, will there be an opportunity to purchase a few plastic bags, or has France joined the ranks of those countries which have taken drastic measures to reduce the proliferation of plastic waste?

In the same vein, how does produce purchase work in the supermarkets there? I remember boyfriend getting scolded in either Portugal or Italy for not first weighing the produce and putting the weight/price sticker on it before we reached the checkout. Here in Canada, we just hand bagged produce to the cashiers and they weigh it/ring it in, but is it the same procedure in France?

Thanks in advance.

Can only judge by Carrefour - France' largest hypermarche chain - NO plastic bags available but there are re-usable ones to buy at check out

I think most supermarkets in France are moving that way but some, last Jan, still were giving out plastic bags so not a law it seems

Produce is usually to be weighed before getting to check out - Carrefour has workers to weigh it for you - others you weigh it yourself and it spits out a bar-coded price thingy

Carrefour does give out thin plastic sacks for produce however.

The Intermarché and LeClerc where I usually shop in France have both cloth and plastic bags you can buy for a few euros.

The Intermarché in Le Bugue was just recently completed renovated and expanded,and in doing so they did away with the weigh-your-own procedure. Now, everything is weighed at the caisse. I have no idea whether that's true at all supermarkets in France, though - I doubt it. Obviously, if there are scales with pictures of produce and prices, you need to weigh things yourself. If not, assume they get weighed at the register.

You do still have to bag your own groceries everywhere I've shopped in France recently.

Free small plastic bags are rare these days - don't know if we've seen many in the past few years (we spend 2 months in France most years). You can purchase (cheap) large re-einforced bags with sturdy handles at the checkout. No need to bring any from home. We actually use our France bags here in the US and pack them in our luggage when we return to France. Unless you are purchasing a lot of groceries, 1 bag will do the trick - they are larger that our US paper bags & more sturdy.

Produce - no consistent rules. At some groceries you weigh them yourself & attach a printed bar code, at some (few) there is a person in the produce section that will do this for you, and at some places you just stuff them in a bag & the checkout person will weigh them.

Some street market vendors don't want you to touch the produce, and at some you put the produce in a bag yourself & hand it to the vendor to weigh it.

Stu Dudley

>>You do still have to bag your own groceries everywhere I've shopped in France recently<<

We've probably shopped at 50-75 different groceries, and like St Cirq stated - we've never had anyone bag the groceries for us.

Stu Dudley

"Normal" supermarkets like Monoprix, Casino, Champion, Franprix, etc., still provide plastic bags.

All hypermarkets have done away with free bags. Sturdy bags "exchangeable free of charge for life" cost something like 0.50. Thin plastic bags (but bigger than Monoprix, Casino...) are available for 0.03.

ED discount superettes also sell their bags for 0.03. No free bags.

In the Picard frozen goods stores, they actually do bag your purchases for you, a strange feeling in France.

I think a date has been set for the total elimination of free bags, but I don't remember what it is.

<I think a date has been set for the total elimination of free bags, but I don't remember what it is.>
"une loi votée par l'assemblée nationale française fixe à 2010 la date à laquelle tous les sacs plastiques non biodégradables devront être interdits"
:-)

Thank you all for your help. I will buy the re-usable ones there, and then I can add them to my collection that I carry in my car trunk at home for grocery trips.

We'll assess the produce situation when we get there, and play it by ear.

Once again Fodorites have come to the rescue.

When I am unsure what to do (weighing the produce is a good example) I just stand back a bit and watch what other people are doing.

Thank you for asking this question! I would never have thought about where to weigh produce had I not read this.

And I love the idea of buying reusable bags in France. What a great, functional souveneir!

Champion does not have any free shopping bags, I found this out when I tried to bag my groceries in a bag tht was hanging on the side of the counter, then was charged another .5 Euro . So they do sell their yellow plastic bags, or re-useable shopping bags.

At bagless Carrefour i saw folks with a few items and no carrying sacks nab a few thin plastic bags from the vegetable and fruit counter and then stuff their stuff in them.

Don't confuse Champion with Hyper Champion.

HI luna,

one of my most prized possessions is the string bag we bought in France many years ago for a few francs. [yes, it's that old!].

i think you can still find them in french markets. they are very light to carry, fit easily into a pocket of handbag, hold loads, and last forever.

on our next trip to france [10 days time, whoopee] the main thing I'll be looking for is another string bag.

regards, ann

I bought a couple of sturdy bags at Carrfour and use them here.

The cashier initialed the barcode on the bags!

I love my string bag and use it whenever I go to Europe. I use it for marketing and for carrying beach towels, books, etc.

Thingorjus

One great thing to buy in many French supermarkets is an insulated plastic bag, designed to keep food fairly cool for up to an hour. I've brought five back so far and love them when shopping in the summer heat.

Be aware that checkers in French markets do not bag your purchases.

Still more helpful information!

My BF shops at a grocery chain (Real Canadian Superstore) that does not bag for the customer - he is a pro at bagging safely and in a well-balanced manner. I am sure he is up to the task.

Yes, what a great souvenir - really! I have two plastic woven "bolsas" I bought at a little grocery shop in the Yucatan for mere pesos each - I smile fondly every time I use them.

Would it be odd to take my own string bag with me to Paris? I just have too many cloth bags, and prefer not to purchase more. My string bag weighs nothing, and can go in a pocket.

No, it wouldn't be odd at all. Lots of people, myself included, bring their own string bags to supermarkets and elsewhere.

Thanks St Cirq

I am going to pack it.

We don't buy that many things at a grocery store (small apartment for 6 nights) but it will be good to have my own bag.

One trip, I bought a basket to carry my bounty from a market and when home, gave it as a gift to a francophile friend.