...especially compared to Paris! I finally got out of the house today when I took a trip to the local Kroger for some peach pie, Blue Bell vanilla ice cream, and other various necessities my mom needed to replenish. I'm heading home to Paris tomorrow and the nostalgia set in as I pushed in the industrial-sized shopping basket toward the produce and bakery sections. It's so nice to know where everything is in a grocery store, or to at least have an idea of where to find it. And So. Many. Choices!

Anyone who knows me, knows that I love to grocery shop. LOVE IT! It's so much fun walking up and down the aisles, dreaming of the delicious dishes that might make it into my belly from the plethora of ingredients in this 30,000+ square foot box. And, after spending some time shopping at Monoprix, Franprix and Auchan over the past few months, it sure does feel so great to leisurely push around a cart in a wide-open space where other customers smile and politely excuse themselves for having their cart slightly more than halfway into the aisle you're trying to get through. Not to mention the oh so pleasant odors of freshly-baked bread and cakes that hit your nostrils just as the big, sliding glass doors swoop open. Kroger is no Trader Joe's, but it was still able get me excited about grocery shopping again. I think I'll have to dig a little deeper than my neighborhood Monoprix back in Paris to get that feeling when I'm back, and after doing a little searching, I'm anxious to check this place out. And this one, too.