November's Finds

DRINKS

I love Mogu Mogu drinks, but I had only ever seen them before in the individual size (on the right side). These ones were huge! The mango one is my personal favorite, if you ever get the chance to try them. There's little chunks of nata de coco inside, which is a fermented coconut gel. It sounds a bit odd, but the gel just takes on the flavor of whichever drink you choose. Just remember to chew!

This strawberry mojito soda caught my eye with its two-toned bottle. It was yummy too! And there's fun lemonades in France too that are sold in fancy bottles. They're waaaay better than minute maid haha.

PRODUCE

Look at those carrots! Yellow, black, and purple carrots are not something I've ever seen before!

MEATS

Yep, that's duck dried-cured sausage! It's actually pretty yummy in my opinion. And of course, foie gras! It is quite common to find foir gras around Christmas and New Years, as I've learned, since the time of winter holidays is seen as a time to splurge a bit. Foie gras can be quite pricey, so the end of the year is a time when French families will eat it in celebration. From what I've seen, duck foie gras is much more commonly found than the traditional goose-based kind. Duck foie gras is also cheaper and more widely found in stores for that reason. 

CHEESE

Mini goat cheese logs! How cute!

ADVENT CALANDERS

So many different kinds! It's incredible. No cheap, waxy milk chocolate here... 

I found this Lindt one interesting, as there are 5 different flavors - Spiced Christmas apple, Gianduja vanilla, speculoos (cookie butter), hazelnut, and double milk. The spiced Christmas apple was my favorite! I also bought a Toblerone advent calender that had mini ones inside in milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate, and hazelnut varieties.

SWEETS

How cute are these mini nutella jars?! They're even glass (like all the other nutella jars in France!). And I thought these snail-shaped chocolates were a fun find. Of course the French would have them haha.

ICE CREAM

 Ice cream?? In winter?! Yep! In fact, it is quite popular. The traditional Bûche de Noël (or Christmas Log Cake) has taken a modern adaptation in recent years to become ice cream based. When you go to any store around the winter season, you will see that there are sooooo many different types! I even found one shaped like Santa's hat, which I thought was cute. They're not just ice cream though, as they will have wafers or cake-like things in the middle, or even different fruits or other inclusion types. If you don't find one that suits your taste, you aren't trying.