Lidl and Parc St. Cloud

Wednesday, August 18, 2010 Day 49
This morning we went to Lidl’s grand opening. The store is probably one-quarter the size of a U.S. supermarket, a la Winn-Dixie, Albertsons, Tom Thumb, Kroger, etc. But crammed in there were lots of groceries and lots of other things as well. An aisle that started on one end with hardware was interspersed with shoes, hangers, then further down the aisle, potato chips and candy. Refrigerator cases were next to toilet tissue, which was next to kids’ toys and craft items. It was all rather helter-skelter. We bought only a few things – they had cantaloupes on for .99€ each, as opposed to 2-3€ in the market, but these were small and had no fragrance, so I expect the one I bought to be flavorless as well – some raw chicken with a Mexican rub on it, a small frozen pizza for Roger for lunch, some beet salad, sliced ham for sandwiches, gum and cookies. We picked up our free Lidl shopping bag (do you suppose it will be gauche to use it at other grocery stores?) and a couple of free bottles of juice – about a pint each. Interesting place, but not a lot of selection, which is understandable given the size of the store. We didn’t see any of those 199€ televisions, but then we weren’t in the market for one anyway.

This afternoon we hopped a bus, transferred to another one, and rode it to the end, arriving in Parc St. Cloud. The park and a chateau were created in the 16th century and decorated by the brother of Louis XIV and his architects. Marie-Antoinette carried out further modifications. In the 19th century it was the royal summer residence, but the chateau burned down in 1870 in the Franco-Prussian War. The remaining parts of the building were razed in 1891, as it was too intimately linked with the monarchy and the Empire. Today there are almost 500 acres of gardens which are terraced down to the Seine and which give a lovely view of Paris in the distance. St. Cloud is reminiscent of the gardens at Versailles but without the grandeur. Unfortunately, the fountains are not in operation, as they would have added to the splendor. Nevertheless we had a delightful walk through some of the area. The gardens are too large for us to cover them all on foot.

We returned home via tram, which gave us a different view of the southwestern outskirts of Paris. When we got off the tram, roger wanted to check the location of a haircutter, so we headed up Boulevard Lefévbre a short distance. On our way back down, we passed the window of a boulangerie where we could see a boulanger hard at work removing baguettes from an oven. He put them into two baskets, then left and headed for the front of the store. We located the door and went in, where we bought a hot, fresh baguette. We had it half eaten before we got home!

Here’s a shout-out to Charlotte, my newest follower. Welcome! Glad to have you on board.

We fixed tacos for dinner, accompanied by that fine Texas brew, Dr. Pepper. A taste of home! Thanks again to Shelli and Ronnie for their generous care package.