Episode 32: What's Saving My Expat Life- Summer's End Edition

Sometimes there are just things that brighten your day or simply make your life SO much easier. From restaurants, to products, to markets, and more! Tune in today as Chandra reveals what has "saved" her life at the end of summer and beginning of autumn.

And keep listening to discover a surprising and delicious pick that is linked to one of the WSMEL (What's Saving My Expat Life) items on list!

• This episode's "Chan Select": Bouillon Pigalle
• Follow us on Instagram: @Expatriotical
•  Episode Reference: Episode 13: What's Saving My Expat Life Right Now

"Live and Travel in the Know" with Expatriotical!

Transcript

Bienvenue, Benvenuti, and Welcome to Expatriotical, the podcast for expats, travelers, and other adventurous souls. I’m Chandra Alley and after living as an expat with my husband and 4 children in two different countries for 6 years, I’ve learned the arts of pivoting during pitfalls, traveling tastefully for less, and soaking in amazing new cultures without losing your own.

Join me, as we dive into the joys and challenges of travel and the expat life in every episode!

Hey guys! So I know the title of this might be a little weird, since this episode is airing at the end of September, but usually in a lot of places I have been to or lived in, the gorgeous summer weather will continue well into September and when I lived in the Dallas, Texas area into October or beyond as well.

But this year in Paris, fall is pushing summer aside and as I type this I am wearing a long sleeve shirt. Insert teardrop emoji here. Anyway, I thought this would be good to reflect on the things that have been saving my life at the end of summer and beginning of autumn here in France.

Some of these are making the list for a second time, because if it’s not broke, why fix it, right?

So without further ado let’s jump in!

The first of the 10 things on my What’s Saving My Expat Life list, is the store Picard. I mentioned this one before and described it as, for those listeners who have been to the American store Trader Joe’s, being similar to Trader Joe’s, in healthiness, variety of creative offerings, and deliciousness, but mainly only having frozen items.

This summer I will unabashedly admit that one of the items that I bought a lot of, was their delicious ice cream cones, ice cream bars, popsicles, and tubs of cream. Yes, there was a theme there and I was enjoying my summer with my kids. But also, they had so many of these products on sale right when I walked in the store, that I “had” to try them, right?!

And I honestly didn’t even feel guilty because a lot of them were mini bars, which were perfect as an after dinner treat and we were consuming half to one third the amount of sugar and fat as a normal sized ice cream bar.

As we have moved into the school year, Picard is continuing to save my life with their buy one get one 50% off deals. Granted I think they raised the prices a little on some of the items compared to the last time I had purchased them, but they were still a good deal and those dinner purchases are currently making 3 successive Back to School nights for my kids, or with my kids easier.

PLUS! And this is a huge plus for this North American girl! A sweet friend here in Paris, just told me that the frozen squash that you buy there, serves as a great substitute for pumpkin! Which means, as the weather continues to cool down, I will be able to make pumpkin bread, pumpkin rolls, and all of my favorite pumpkin flavored goodies, without going to the expensive American food stores and paying triple the amount or the normal price for a can of pumpkin. Yay!

On to number two, and you guys, I honestly don’t know why this wasn’t in my first What’s Saving My Expat Life Right Now episode, the first time, like seriously I don’t know. Because this store is super important to my family and that is Costco. Yes, the American warehouse type store, where you can buy 12 rolls of paper towels, and a box of 48 granola bars, a set of stoneware coffee mugs, and a new mattress, all while getting your tires changed.

This probably wouldn’t be on my list if it was just Chris and I and maybe even if we only had only one or two kids, but keeping this, I shouldn’t say only, that’s a lot of kids, but when you’re buying bulk you use it a lot faster with you have a big family. But keeping this family stocked up on the essentials can be a major undertaking and Costco helps me do that. Granted here in Paris, to go to either of the two different locations, you need a car, because they are way on the outskirts or really I should say the suburbs of town.

But it is worth it, for me to make that 45 minute drive, without traffic, once a month to make sure, especially during the school year that I have an adequate supply of school friendly snacks, chicken nuggets (and not just any chicken nuggets y’all these are the best nuggets ever and approved by some of the pickiest eaters- that aren’t even in my family- that I know), but chicken nuggets for an easy dinner when I need one, and toilet paper, because rolls of TP seem to literally be vanishing into thin in the Alley household.

And even though I have noticed, maybe in part due to inflation, some of the prices of things are steadily creeping up. Costco still has the market cornered on many items and until they don’t I will keep going back.

The third thing on the list is a chain store in Paris called Sushi Shop. I was introduced to them last fall by a dear friend when she had come for lunch or for a coffee and then needed a quick dinner and then remembered that it was Wednesday and Sushi Shop was having their Happy Box special. I asked what that was and she that you got 48 pieces (which has now gone down to 42- curse you inflation) for 25 euro.

Which is a screaming good deal. So I ordered it once or twice, but over the winter and spring, because of the colder weather I guess, I forgot about it. But then in May on one of the first nice days that we had had, we where leaving a long afternoon picnic and play date at the Bois du Boulogne, another friend was pondering what she would do for dinner and also remembered it was Wednesday (the kids had had a day off of school because it was a holiday- because that’s what we do in May apparently here) and she remembered Sushi Shop so I thought, “Oh yeah, let’s do that!”

And that reintroduced the magical Wednesday tradition back into our family culture. On top of that, they came out with a new Summer Sushi box, which was amazing, so we would get the Happy Box for the kids and the fancier Summer Sushi box for ourselves. And in fairness we let the kids try the fancy box the first time, but they didn’t like it or appreciate it as much and wanted to pick things off, so that put the kybosh on them getting much more of it the next time. Or very much of it the next time.

With the weather very much being in the fall swing of things, I have not been ordering it the past couple of weeks, but I keep hoping for a sneaky Indian Summer day to surprise us all, especially or specifically on a Wednesday, if not for an entire week!

Number 4 on my What’s Saving My Expat Life- Summer’s End list is another French chain cafe called Paul or Paul in my American accent. I am not trying to be heavy on the chain stores, but let’s be honest, one wonderful thing about chains is their many locations and usually their standard quality of food. And so for me, especially when I need to make a trip to the mall, I know that I can always grab a sandwich with baguette, jambon, fromage, est les crudites. Also know as a ham and cheese sandwich with lettuce and tomato on baguette bread.

It is only going to cost me 5 euro, it’s freshly made, delicious, and it comes in a litte sachet type bag, so it's portable and easy to eat on the run, which is very un-French and I am sure draws attention to the fact that I am not from here. But c’est la vie.

The fifth thing is Amazon. Yep, Amazon may forever be on the list, because it is simply so reliable for finding things or getting things to me quickly. One of my most recent purchases was stools. I had decided to try something new to make school mornings easier. Specifically around breakfast time. This has been a pain point in our routine for two years now and I have been searching for a way to fix it and make it less stressful.

Last year, I tried not cooking my kids a hot breakfast and letting them eat cereal most days, and that helped a little, but not a ton. So in August it came to me, by God’s grace, that maybe I should turn the area we use as a catch-all in the kitchen into an island or more so, an eating peninsula. This piece of furniture had actually come with us from Italy and we had used it as an island and even ate at it on occasion as it had space for two high bottom chairs.

So a couple of days before school started Chris and I flipped it around and I pieced together some seating, borrowed from the youngest boys’ desk, the dining room table etc, to see if this experiment would work and I am so happy to say that it did! Mornings have been or have run SO much more smoothly and we are even not AS late to school as we have been in the past. It’s awesome!

But I also knew that I would need to return the boys’ chairs to their desk so I started looking for stools. I went to IKEA, I went to other brick and mortar stores, I looked online at Restoration Hardware (and discovered that they were way out of my price range), and then it hit me, look on Amazon, and voila! I got four wooden and metal stools, two with backs, two without for about 110 euro total! That certainly beat the 1000 euro per stool price from Restoration Hardware!

Granted Amazon is not perfect. After a recent birthday present purchase did not arrive in time, I was forced to scramble the morning of the party to replace the item, but overall, I would say that I am a happy customer.

Number 6 on the list happens to be the store I went to, to buy that emergency present, when my purchase from Amazon did not arrive and that is Monoprix. Monoprix is a market or grocery store in France and there are different types of them. For the Americans listening I will liken these differentiations to different types of Targets, regular Target or Super Target or Walmarts, Neighborhood Market by Walmart, regular Walmart, Super Walmart. I generally just go to a regular Monoprix that is simply a grocery store, there are also, Monop’s which are aimed at providing quick snack or bites to eat for people on the go. And then there are Monoprixes that are similar to a Super Target or Super Walmart. Not in size, mind you, this is still Europe, but in what they have to offer.

I will say though that the quality of the clothes offered are similar to that of a department store than those those other stores, as you can buy a cashmere sweater at these Monoprixes and I have never seen anything like that in a Target and certainly not in a Walmart.

Anyway, the Monoprix that is close to a metro that I frequent is one of these types and it has provided me with last minute gifts, discounted clothes for me and the kids, and of course many purchases picked up quickly on the way home, to be made for dinner.

Another place that is making a return appearance to the list is IKEA. Even though, Ikea didn’t have the type of stool I was looking for, I still swung by there last week to pick up essential items that are challenging to find elsewhere, such as: snack sized zip lock bags, fully plastic reusable soap dispensers (my boys seem to go through these like they are going out of style because they repeatedly drop them in the shower and eventually they break), and picture frames.

I love it because the prices are reliable and I can always count on them having pretty much everything on my list at all times, sans the snack sized bags, as those must be a fan favorite there.

Number 8 on the list is Google Translate. Now, I wouldn’t say I have a love/hate relationship with it. I really do like it, I use it constantly or at least every day, and am currently using to translate things into French, Spanish, and even check my Italian (as it has gotten a bit rusty from not speaking it often for 2 years), but I get super frustrated when it gives me a strange translation.

For example, for some reason I had the idea to translate the word “welcome” from English into French and then to listen to Google say it. Whether you realize it or not, you already know this word, as it is the first word in the Expatriotical Intro. Bienvenue. But when I put it in and listened it said “BiEnvenue”, in fact here, listen to it yourself.

[play google sayings “bienvenue”]

So then I thought, “Oh my goodness I have been saying it wrong this whole time!” And so you may have noticed that I changed the way I recorded the intro, because I record every intro fresh. But it just didn’t feel right, so then I went to one of the employees at my kids’ school, who is a native French speaker or Francophone and is super sweet and I asked her to say ‘welcome’ in French and she said “Bienvenue”.

I told her my conundrum and she said, “no it’s “bienvenue" and I just think that Google has weird accents sometimes.” But then I did more research and have heard the Google pronunciation more. So truly I don’t really know what to tell you, but regardless, it’s a great tool, even if it’s not perfect!

The ninth thing that has been Saving My Expat Life, and really this has been a long time coming and it’s another one that I am not sure why it didn’t make the list last time, but that is the store “Normal” spelled like the English world “normal”, but for some reason I say it in a half French accent. I don’t know why. It is actually a Danish Store, and it’s funny but I find that I really love a lot of the Danish chain stores, Sostrene Grene (which I mentioned in the first What’s Saving My Expat Life episode, which is number 13), and Flying Tiger Copenhagen being another one of those stores.

Normal carries basically a ton of different brands of toiletries, but for lower prices than other stores, Nivea lotion is 1 to 2 euros per bottle cheaper there. Dove hand soap refills are only a euro something per package and each package can refill two soap dispensers. And the newest purchase that I mad was Oral child-sized electric toothbrush heads, which I actually went back to the store to purchase after seeing that Auchan, the giant grocery store right next door was selling them for 14.99 for 2 versus Normal’s price of 16.80 for 4. I mean you really can’t beat that.

They also carry inexpensive greeting cards, spices, and even American and European candies at great prices. Guys, it’s seriously one of my favorite stores here!

Number 10 is kind of silly and it honestly didn’t even hit me until last night when I was in the shower. Which is where I do some of my best thinking because it’s quiet there and I am relaxed, BUT those are actually not the reasons I thought of this one. It was because my senses were overwhelmed with delight and I thought, “Oh, this has really been saving my life during the past few weeks.” And that thing is my soap.

Normally I just buy a basic soap of good quality with a mild and clean scent. Nothing fancy. But when Chris and I celebrated our anniversary with a staycation in the Monmartre area of Paris back in August, we took a walk around the bohemian and eclectic neighborhoods and on our way down the hill we walked by a Marsellain soap store and decided to go in.

These soaps are natural and I believe handmade, but also very professionally done and beautiful so that you actually want to buy them and aren’t turned off by their earthiness, like some natural soaps can do. I have to give it to the French, they know how to make things beautiful. Like little details and touches here and there that would never cross my mind and I feel like that is saying a lot because I am pretty detail oriented.

Anyway we bought several soaps, including one for each of our kids and one for our babysitter. So far, I have used Grapefruit (which was Chris’ pick), Lemon Basil, which was my pick, and currently we are on- and don’t get grossed out- donkey’s milk.

This last one was a last minute purchase as I was waiting in line and saw it hanging on a wall. Like soap on a rope and there was a sign with a graphic of a donkey and the words “lait d’anesse” in French. Well, I knew that lait meant milk and so I figured that d’anesse meant donkey. And I was super curious so I went over to smell it, prepared for it to be disgusting, but to the contrary, my olfactory system lit up with joy!

I immediately grabbed a bar, and the rest is history. It is weird how something as simple as soap can bring a smile to your face!

And the final thing on my What’s Saving My Expat Life- Summer’s End list, is thankfully not something that is only found in France. In fact, I would have more so thought that, because of where it is produced and broadcasting rights and such, it could only be found in America, but thanks to Netflix and the modern technology of apps and screen mirroring, you can pretty much watch it anywhere I think.

And that show is called The Chosen. I believe that I have been pretty open, but hopefully not pushy in sharing that I am a Christian. And this show is simply about the life of Jesus. To me, I have really enjoyed, after the kids are in bed, settling in at night with Chris and my cup of tea and being transported back in history to watch and maybe even learn a little bit about someone I admire a lot.

And that wraps up my list! I hope that it has sparked some ideas of things that can help you or bring you joy in this season.

For this episode’s “Chan Select” I am going to take you back to Monmartre and pick up where we left off on that walk with Chris. After the soap store, we continued down the hill and found ourselves right by a restaurant that had caught Chris’ eye the night before. So we decided to pop in for lunch, as there was not yet a line.

The atmosphere of Bouillon Pigalle was fun and lively and when we were handed the menu, we were astounded. This was Paris, didn’t they know they were supposed to charge an arm and a leg for everything?! We couldn’t believe the variety of traditional French offerings for such affordable prices.

For starters Chris had a succulent radish salad and I had beetroot tartare, which I wasn’t sure if I would like, because I love beets, but I don’t like beef tartare so I was really banking on the tartare part being the dishes preparation style and I was right. It was DElicious and I honestly had wished I had more, but that was ok, because as soon as we had finished that, our main dishes came out. Chris enjoyed a Dauphine-style ravioli with leek fondue which was somehow light and hearty at the same time and I had Salmon gravlax or gravlax with potato and cucumber salad with herbs. I didn’t know what gravlax meant, but I knew I liked salmon, so I took another chance and was once again delighted.

The salmon came out and at first I thought it was smoked, because I could tell it was not cooked and for me smoked salmon can be hit and miss. But the combination of this Nordic style salmon, which is cured in salt, sugar, and dill, served over a creamy potato salad with cucumbers and fresh dill, was delicious and perfect on what was still a summer day, since it was August.

I wish I could tell you I tried some of the many amazing looking desserts they offered, but I was too full.

Bouillon Pigalle, pronounced bull-yon in American English, if that helps with visualizing the spelling. Is a great stop for lunch or dinner when you are visiting Paris and find yourself in the Montmartre area. I will be sure to include their website in the show notes. And as usual, I am not an affiliate, just a fan.

And finally it’s time for the quote of the day. I found this one when I was searching for expat quotes and it really stuck out. Now, I know that as expats we don’t always get to move when or where we want to, and that can be hard. I literally am going to go farewell lunches for a couple of friends within a four or five day period. So, I get it. But sometimes there is a different feeling and this quote by Meister Ekhart, encapsulates that feeling. He says, “And suddenly you just know… It’s time to start something new and trust the magic of new beginnings.” Here’s to more of that type of magic!

That’s it for today everyone, but before I sign off, I want to say “thank you” and also “welcome” “bienvenue” to those of you that have recently joined the Expatriotical community! And I want to ask if you could please take a second and subscribe or follow on whatever podcast app you are listening to and if you have an extra minute maybe leave a kind review? This helps to boost Expatriotical in the Algorithm so that many more people can find us here!

Thank you so much, I truly appreciate it! I hope you all have enjoyed this episode and I can’t wait to meet you back here next week for another interview episode! We will be covering a topic that many expats face and the conversation is off the hook! But…

Aurevoir for now. This is Chandra Alley reminding you to “Live and Travel in the Know” with Expatriotical.