Later today I met up with Spencer, Jennifer and Carolina at
the metro at George de loup. They wanted to get something to eat and buy some
stuff at Carrefour which is like their Pick n Pay [a national supermarket chain
in South Africa]. We went on the D line
and then went on the B line from Saxe Gambetta. Once you get off the metro you
take some stairs and you’re in the shopping centre. It was like 16:30 and there
were so many people... all of us commented how you always see so many people in
the street you wonder when and if they work.
We ended up going to a place called Quick which is probably France’s
equivalent of a McDonalds even though they do have a McDonalds. Oh my word
service was so slow...painfully even. I’m talking 1 cashier working
there...there should have at least been 2 but there was also another queue which
was for an express line where you place your order via touch screens and pay
with card (the majority of all sales in Lyon are done with card, from small
superettes to restaurants to buying bus/metro tickets) and then you take your
slip to the cashier who gets the order together for you.
I was amazed to see a hot chick working the fryer at a fast
food place. Europe is on a next level man... so Spencer and Carolina ordered
some bacon Mexican thing and I just ordered a small burger with cheese... delicious
for 2 Euros. It wasn’t bad, still tasted like the usual mcD’s cardboard but it
had that processed cheese that I love so much and a nice cheesy pepper sauce.
No pickles or salad though, even for the bacon ones so it all looked a bit dry.
One significant difference is that when you order a drink
they just give you a cup and there is a soda stream station like they usually
have behind the counter where you can have unlimited amounts of soda. It’s
weird because you get charged differently for the different sized cups but you
can have as many refills as you want. I was quite shocked to see this as I knew
if they had this sort of thing back home it would get abused and shut down in
one day. Unlimited Coke or Fanta or sprite or whatever??? Trust me; us saffas
would nail that so quickly. Ha-ha.
We had a little entertainment as amongst the coke machines
there is one for ice or water, which wasn’t working but we still saw person
after person walk up to it and try at least 20 times to get ice, just keeping
on pushing the button or trying different settings...even if there were 2
people, 1 would try like 10-20 times while the other person watched, then after
the first person gave up and just got their drink the next person would try for
another 20 odd times. It really was bizarre to see people trying over and over
again. It’s like the saying “insanity isn’t banging your head against a wall,
its expecting a different outcome each time”. The most ironic thing was that as
we left, spencer just pushed the button for shits and giggles and ice actually
came out. : P
We then walked around, Jen bought a bag and then we went to
Carrefour as the girls wanted to buy toiletries before they went to Italy for
their vacation (vacances). Most of the stuff I looked at was a bit more
expensive when I converted to Rands [South African currency] and Jen told me
that it’s the same for her converting into Dollars. Luckily I found some Monster which is
actually cheaper than back in SA *que angelic fanfare* so I bought 4 to have
with my gin because that is how I roll.
Walking around I noticed that the supermarket doesn’t use
baskets like in SA but these trolleys that you roll along the ground (they’re
like plastic versions of the baskets you always see old people rolling with. A
francaise c’est la chariot...a basket on wheels) and people also weigh off
their own produce on scales. This particular supermarket didn’t sell or supply
the thin plastic bags but rather had those thicker ones that you pay a bit more
for. I saw some reasonably priced salmon and some fresh scallops...let me just
repeat that...FRESH SCALLOPS. We only get frozen ones in SA. You could get
rabbit or duck breasts in the shop as well. They really are spoilt for choice
when it comes to some things (quel que choses) here (ici).
We walked around a bit and found a cool store where there
were loads of cool Manga’s, comic books and figurines/t-shirts from Manga and video games and comics.
Bleach, One Piece, Kickass, Full Metal Alchemist, and Justice League,
Tintin...you get the picture. All in French though...reading manga in French is
a bit different: p
We then went into a shop which is similar in content to a Yuppie
Chef store. More gimmicky things like slicers and peelers and quirky things for
the kitchen. Some knives were decently priced though and saw some cool ice
trays which I would’ve bought if they weren’t so expensive.
After this we headed back and said by at gorge de loup and I
headed back to CR. Having a gin and monster as I write this...because I can.
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