When in Paris, I went shopping at Val d’Europe (lit. Valley of Europe), which is a part of the new town known as Marne la Vallée. It is located around 35 km to the east of Paris, near Parc Disneyland.

There is a large Auchan hypermarket inside the commercial center. Auchan SA is an international retail group and multinational corporation headquartered in Lille, France.

Auchan has branches in France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Luxembourg, Poland, Hungary, Russia, Morocco, China and Taiwan. It also entered the Romanian market in 2006, with the first hypermarket in Bucharest set to open soon.

Statistics:

  • France: 116 hypermarkets, 276 Supermarkets (ATAC), and 120 shopping centres (centre commercial).
  • Spain: 45 Alcampo hypermarkets, 124 supermarkets.
  • Portugal: 17 hypermarkets under Jumbo/Pao de Açúcar banners.
  • Italy: 41 hypermarkets (40 Auchan ,1 Finiper), 215 supermarkets (Sma and cityper).
  • Luxembourg: 1 hypermarket.
  • Poland: 19 hypermarkets, 13 supermarkets (Elea).
  • Hungary: 10 hypermarkets.
  • Russia: 6 hypermarkets.
  • Morocco: 11 hypermarkets under Marjane tag and 18 supermarkets under Acima banner.
  • China:13 hypermarkets.

Quick is a Franco-Belgian fast-food restaurant chain similar to McDonald’s.

The chain was first established in 1972 in Belgium, and as at 31 December 2004 it had more than 400 restaurants in countries including Belgium, France and Luxembourg. 72% of these restaurants are operated on a franchise basis.
The first French Quick opened in Aix-en-Provence on July 19th, 1980.

As of April 2006, the burger line-up includes:

  • the Hamburger
  • the Cheeseburger
  • the Long Sunset
  • the Sunshine
  • the Big Bacon
  • the Supreme Cheese
  • the Quick n’Toast
  • the Long Fish
  • the Long Chicken
  • the Giant
  • the Classic Pepper

The “Giant” (which, despite its name, is similar in size to the other burgers) is the most popular choice, constituting about 50% of Quick’s burger orders.

When in Paris, you might wonder how to go around and see the interesting stuff there, all you have to do is to pick one of those colored buses, unlimited on/off jumps, price 22 euros, ticket valid for 2 days.