A notable change, more and more of you are going to France to do your shopping. This is what one of our teams saw this weekend at the French border. Shopping carts full to bursting for about 100 euros less than at home. Same thing for fuel.
In Jeumont, in the north of France, Christophe and his mother came to do their shopping for the very first time in a supermarket. “I will come back again. It is sure and certain”, she confides. “We will come regularly because in Belgium, it becomes hellish”said Christopher.
The Belgians met on site admit to making the trip at least once a month. The products are exactly the same as in Belgium, but the prices are markedly different.
“Here, for a full shopping cart, I get 250 euros. In Belgium, it took between 100 and 150 euros more”, points out a Belgian. “That’s 70 to 80 euros more”, another person tells us.
The economy is very real but the situation still makes you think. Isabelle came from Charleroi with her husband. “We both work. We don’t make a bad living, and it’s weird having to shop abroad to earn a few pennies,” she indicates.
In the parking lot, there is no longer a free space. Also difficult to find a caddy. The French admit that shopping here takes them much longer, but they understand the situation. “We are impressed by the number of Belgians, but we understand them because on their side life is much more expensive than at home. And then, we do the same thing with tobacco and we did the same thing with gasoline , A few years ago”, said a Frenchwoman.
Service stations located at the border are also taken by storm. Motorists are determined to wait in line to save a little. When filling the tank, the finding is clear. “For a full tank, I put around 60 euros, for around 100 euros in Belgium”says a Belgian.
In recent months, the crowd has been such that the six pumps of the service station, in which we went, are frequently empty.