Now that we’ve been in Carcassonne for a few days, there are a few differences that we’ve noticed when it comes to how food is packaged. Not difficult to deal with, but rather an interesting difference to what we are used to seeing in the U.S.

Mayo in a Tube

It looks a bit like Mayo Toothpaste. It is not white but a light yellow color, but has the same texture and flavor we are used to having with Best Foods.

Dijon Packs a Powerful Punch

I love dijon, spicy, yellow mustards, but wow you really need to go easy on the French Dijon Moutard. A teaspoon of this stuff has the same amount of flavor and zest as an entire bottle of Dijon Mustard in the U.S. Which is probably why it comes in a little tiny jar. If you have a sensitive palate as I do, take it easy for the first use.

Milk on a Shelf

We double-checked this a couple of times, but YEP, milk in France is sold unrefrigerated in the same aisle as your cereal. In all honesty, we haven’t actually tried it yet. But we’re keeping ours in the fridge.

Two Carton Sizes for Eggs: 4 or 6

We chose the 6-count carton because Kiara likes an over easy egg every couple of days and well, we like to spoil her. But think about that next time you’re at the grocery store picking up and 18-count carton of eggs – how many of you would decide to give the kids cereal if those were you only choices. Additionally, we have yet to see white eggs. Perhaps all the white chickens live in the U.S.

The Sweet Scent of Strawberry

We bought this pack of strawberries, it smelled so fresh it literally stopped you in your tracks. I do not care for strawberries as I find them more tart than sweet. These thinner French ones are so sweet they taste like strawberry flavored candy. Absolutely delicious. Totally a keeper!

Wrinkly Tomates

French tomatoes (tomates) look like a cross between a tomato and a pumpkin and they are kind of orangey as well. We haven’t tried these yet, we bought the ones still on the vine, yummy. These are definitely on the list to try though!!

Brown Sugar in Small Hard Chunks

Brown sugar, or what I believe to be brown sugar (it could also be raw sugar — jury is still out on this one) comes in a box full of small hard chunks. It breaks up pretty easily and tastes like the light brown sugar at home and, even better, still works with my special dressing/marinade which I made this afternoon. Not bad!

Tiny Jars of Soy Sauce

The only soy sauce we’ve come across so far are smaller than the ones used in Chinese and Japanese restaurants in the U.S. It tastes fine, it made the list cause it’s kinda cute.

City Wine

The Carcassonne Wine. Haven’t tried it yet, but is was actually the least expensive wine in the store, so we had to try it to see what it tastes like, really big bottle, really little price . . . my kind of wine!

Icky Cheese

There are over 600 varieties of cheese in France. It was just our fate that this nasty palette ruining 80 grams of icky was one the first we bought. It is creamy like a cream cheese and it spreads very nicely. The damage isn’t done unti you open your mouth and taste it . . . definitely going on the NEVER AGAIN list.

Yummy Cheese

This is our friend Camembert (the “t’ is silent). Cam is a wonderful cheese, it tastes incredibly smooth and is almost sinfully delicious. This is is definitely a keeper!