You might assume that a place called Park'n Shop would have a parking lot. But not in Brazzaville. Street parking outside is available for those with Parking Karma (Montpelierites know this phenomenon). This very large glass-front grocery store on steroids (they stock freezers, baby strollers, ironing boards and other household items far beyond even a big grocery in the US) has very high ceilings and sits on a busy corner in the center of Brazzaville. Designed by an Indian architect, it was built just a few years ago by a Chinese construction company time on time, within budget, to specifications.
Double deck carts with two removable baskets are available when you enter the store. The removable part comes in handy at check out when a staff member puts your baskets on the checkout counter and removes the rest of the basket structure. Montpelier Shaw's could take a tip. These carts take up much less room in the aisles and are easy to navigate through narrow spaces. The aisles are wide and the store is immaculate.
This, my first visit, was a continuation in following Well-come around town while he bought what he needed to fix an Indian vegetarian dinner, right down to gluten-free chapatis. Well-come went about his work and we got our own basket just for fun. Of course, our basket was as full as his at the end. We found the wine and liquor section, the snacks section, oohed and ahhed but did not buy in the outrageously priced imported cheese section, and generally engaged in recreational acquisitioning, an old family tradition, along with making up words.
Along the way I could see that for a price one could buy almost anything one could buy in the States or Europe. The large selection of Kellogg's cereals ran to their sugary lines, leading me to a "tsk" about US exports of bad eating habits. But then I got caught up looking at wine, most of which is French. Nothing looked familiar to me. Even the cheapest champagne was $40/btl and Taittinger much more. Smirnoff's 80-proof vodka on the other hand was about the same price as a fifth at home (I am embarrassed that I am in command of this fact, but there you go). Some items seem reasonably priced, others bear the burden of carbon imprints from shipping. However, it was the only place we saw cauliflower and broccoli, imported from Europe and purchased as part of the vegetable curry enterprise.
I resisted temptation in the fruit juice aisle, for now, by selecting only apricot and mange juices, which I find make great fruit spritzers with club soda (okay, and maybe a splash of vodka). But that's only the beginning. Some fruits are totally new to me and others I have known only in other tropical locations. I intend to do more exploring. But maybe on a Tuesday morning. This was Saturday before noon. The checkout lines moved quickly but were long. We took our own carry bags but noted that those who did not bring their own received bags made of recycled materials that can be reused and are not plastic. The store is open all day but closes from one to three on Saturday, so while we were checking out we heard the "store is closing" signals. At the door we were ushered out by the uniformed guard whose colleagues were probably holding him personally responsible for the timing of their lunch break.
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