Bread


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There's a baker in the nearest village, Luzillé - about 3km away, which offers good traditional French bread (eg baguettes) as well as a “tradition” with a chewier crust. But if you are feeling a little more adventurous, go into Bléré and buy bread from the baker in the town square (that's a picture of me at the baker on the left, with my hands full of breakfast!), they have a much wider selection. Try their "tradition" (with and without seeds) which we think is excellent, and I'm also very fond of their Briare. There are also a couple of other good bakers in Bléré which have a different selection of breads and cakes.

Bakers tend to open even when all the other shops are closed, and vice versa: you can buy fresh bread on a Sunday but the Luzillé baker is closed on Mondays and my favourite baker in Bléré is closed on Wednesdays. They also tend to be open on high days and holidays but closed another day sometime later as compensation.

Supermarkets

There are three supermarkets in Bléré - a Carrefour, an Intermarché, and an Aldi (for opening times look here). The Carrefour and Intermarché are both pretty good, but for a much wider selection we go to Leclerc in Amboise, that's about 15 minutes drive from La Grange. We drive past it on our way to Lavignon and we usually stop there to buy the basics and enough for a day or two. For something approaching a hypermarché, we go to Tours: just south of Tours there is a long straight road going south with all sorts of large shops including an Auchan, a very large supermarket. Their fresh fish is very good with a wide selection, their meat is all pre-packed but the quality seems reasonable. And at the other end of the scale, there’s a mini-supermarket in Francueil.

The village shop in Luzillé, L’Epice Riz, is now in the hands of a very enthusiastic and friendly Michael Poitrinal. In addition to the mini-supermarket, he now offers a delicatessen, a traiteur service (ready made dishes), and a butcher’s shop.

Petrol / diesel / gas

The supermarkets are the cheapest places to buy fuel. I generally fill up at Leclerc just outside Amboise but the prices are pretty much the same at all the supermarkets. Auchan in Tours seems to be a bit cheaper than most but it's not worth making a special trip. Gas for cars is not as widely available as petrol and diesel. Most supermarkets have 24 hour pumps but they require a credit card with a PIN. I use my French credit card, I haven't tried any foreign cards.