When we first moved to the Rodez area in 1995, the downtown boasted three cheese shops and two fishmongers'. Eleven years later, there is only one cheese shop and one fishmonger left. I haven't kept track of butchers' , although I remember that one of the town's finest shut down over five years ago. All in all, though, they seem to be hanging in there a little better than other types of specialty food shops in this meat-loving region.Derrick Schneider of An Obsession with Food recently expressed amazement at the variety and quality of meats available in "France's Wal-Mart-like hypermarchés," and it's true that one can find just about all types of meat in a Géant or an Auchan. I shop quite a bit at the hypermarchés, so I can't play holier-than-vous, but I do try to buy most of my meat at the local butcher shops...so that they will still be around in ten more years.
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I just gave up on l'hypermarché for this very reason and it is such a good feeling. I hate the idea that small markets may one day disappear in France.
It's very hard to buy everything at the market and in specialty shops, but I found that I take a lot more care and interest in what I buy now. I go to the supermarket for laundry detergent and milk and whatnot but that's it. In fact I hate even going at all anymore.
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