Le man's Carrefour twice the price for drink?
Discussion
Just recapping on price of drink over in France/le man's .. we have a few newbies coming this year and are classic tight wadded Brits.
Was having a search on Google "how much is a box of wine in France" and it linked me to the Carrefour in Calais... Around €10 for 5l box of JP Chenot wine (nice and cheerful I know). I thought wow that's cheaper than I remembered.. so had a quick search on the le man's Carrefour and a single bottle is 2.80... still cheap I know but twice the price .. maybe because it's a bottle and not a box...
But are prices inflated at le man's ... Especially on the 24hr week?? Is it worth stopping off at Caen when we dock and find a supermarket there??
Was having a search on Google "how much is a box of wine in France" and it linked me to the Carrefour in Calais... Around €10 for 5l box of JP Chenot wine (nice and cheerful I know). I thought wow that's cheaper than I remembered.. so had a quick search on the le man's Carrefour and a single bottle is 2.80... still cheap I know but twice the price .. maybe because it's a bottle and not a box...
But are prices inflated at le man's ... Especially on the 24hr week?? Is it worth stopping off at Caen when we dock and find a supermarket there??
I always find that it's supply rather than cost that's the challenge. Primarily the easiest to see this with is ice on hot weekends. Carrefour bring it in huge amounts but there's simply never enough. If you're down there early enough, pick your ice on Thursday morning and see if you can get through with that: there won't be any on Saturday.
Thanks for the replies... We never seen Carrefour run low on alcohol... There's always something to wet your lips.
Keeping it cool was an issue, resorting to a big plastic bin full of water and frozen vegetables last time... (2017 red hot!) Until suddenly when the moral was at an all time low with us drinking warm Brussel sprout flavoured beer ... A German fella tapped me on shoulder with an ice cold beer.. asked us "you want some cold beer?". We followed him to what we thought was an oasis... He had a refrigerated truck full of cases of beer.. he will go down in folklore with us. Never have a bunch of guys been more content!
This year I am bringing a chest freezer and my Van!
Keeping it cool was an issue, resorting to a big plastic bin full of water and frozen vegetables last time... (2017 red hot!) Until suddenly when the moral was at an all time low with us drinking warm Brussel sprout flavoured beer ... A German fella tapped me on shoulder with an ice cold beer.. asked us "you want some cold beer?". We followed him to what we thought was an oasis... He had a refrigerated truck full of cases of beer.. he will go down in folklore with us. Never have a bunch of guys been more content!
This year I am bringing a chest freezer and my Van!
I found the ice bags to be a waste of time, lasting a day at most and getting everything soaking wet.
However the Super U near Arnarge normally sells frozen 1.5L bottles of water. These lasted a couple of days, and were very handy for sticking in your backpack, and rather than a wet puddle you get a cool refreshing beverage when they're done. They also double as a weapon or set of persian clubs.
However the Super U near Arnarge normally sells frozen 1.5L bottles of water. These lasted a couple of days, and were very handy for sticking in your backpack, and rather than a wet puddle you get a cool refreshing beverage when they're done. They also double as a weapon or set of persian clubs.
Based on French ski resorts they always charge more in the resort supermarkets as the locals drive down the valley to non-tourist towns.
Normally stop at big Super U at Sainte Jamme sur Sarthe (2nd petrol fill up too). 20km north of Le Mans and close to the D338 road (main A road route) and a little south of Beaumont Sur Sarthe. Excellent bakery/patisserie section too.
Stop there on way back to fill the boot/car with wine (usually about 2 bottles
)
Normally stop at big Super U at Sainte Jamme sur Sarthe (2nd petrol fill up too). 20km north of Le Mans and close to the D338 road (main A road route) and a little south of Beaumont Sur Sarthe. Excellent bakery/patisserie section too.
Stop there on way back to fill the boot/car with wine (usually about 2 bottles
)Le Mans Carrefour has better offers on Kronenbourg on Mad Friday than on the Tuesday before (although in bottles).
On the Friday you can get 40 bottles for €10 if you can sneak them back to your campsite and avoid taking them in the circuit during the race. We just pop back for extra cold ones to fill our plastic Le Mans cups. Rather have 40 bottles of Kronenbourg for €10 than half a litre of Carlsberg and no queue!
I find Calais and Boulogne supermarkets really expensive and the McDonald's in Boulogne (Outreau) is the dearest one I've ever been to in France, even Disneyland Paris McDonald's is cheaper!
On a not so cheap note, I think the shipping container bars are brilliant for watching the race and we even buy drinks while watching, unlike most of the people taking up the best seats for hours on end after buying / possibly buying the cheapest thing at the bar!
On a side note do the 'tight wadded Brits' know it's €10 a pint in the circuit seeming they're even worrying about the cost of cheap wine in the supermarket?
On the Friday you can get 40 bottles for €10 if you can sneak them back to your campsite and avoid taking them in the circuit during the race. We just pop back for extra cold ones to fill our plastic Le Mans cups. Rather have 40 bottles of Kronenbourg for €10 than half a litre of Carlsberg and no queue!
I find Calais and Boulogne supermarkets really expensive and the McDonald's in Boulogne (Outreau) is the dearest one I've ever been to in France, even Disneyland Paris McDonald's is cheaper!
On a not so cheap note, I think the shipping container bars are brilliant for watching the race and we even buy drinks while watching, unlike most of the people taking up the best seats for hours on end after buying / possibly buying the cheapest thing at the bar!
On a side note do the 'tight wadded Brits' know it's €10 a pint in the circuit seeming they're even worrying about the cost of cheap wine in the supermarket?
Edited by Printertosh on Friday 31st May 16:34
Truckosaurus said:
You don't even need an electric coolbox just a decent brand of normal cooler eg. Igloo or Coleman Coolmax and make a load of ice before you leave and you'll be dumping it out at the end of the week. (Plus a decent sized car to cart it down there though).
We took a really impressive Coleman's cool box.. and the usual frozen bottles of juice etc and works excellent for keeping already chilled things chilled .. but Carrefour doesn't sell many cold beers?( Only ones we saw were the kegs which we did buy too but we're a mission to pour without the machine) so it's the getting them cold part was the issue, specially for 7 guys...As said not this year.. will have 2-3 cool boxes and a chest freezer we bought for £6 each !
I take my pickup & always go food/drink hopping for our group of 35 on Mad Friday.
Never had a problem at the Carrefour with the prices & no issues with empty shelves.
The added bonus is having a cold beer in the bar just as you exit the tills! Looks quite funny leaning against four trolleys full of supplies, Im telling you the French know how to live!
See you there.
Nick
Never had a problem at the Carrefour with the prices & no issues with empty shelves.
The added bonus is having a cold beer in the bar just as you exit the tills! Looks quite funny leaning against four trolleys full of supplies, Im telling you the French know how to live!
See you there.
Nick
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