After arriving in Melbourne and having lunch with Chris’s family, Chris and I took a long drive to nowhere and found ourselves at the Woolworth’s supermarket near his parents’ house. I always like to visit grocery stores and supermarkets when we are traveling, even if I have been in the same exact ones in Melbourne multiple times. It just makes me happy to see the variety of food, how it differs in terms of food type, place of origin, and types of readily available ingredients. This time, after a trip to France, I am more cognizant of the French brand mustard Maille, which recently opened a glamorous, high-end store on the Upper West Side in Manhattan (and where I got ripped off into buying a small $9 jar of their basil flavored whole grain mustard). So I was shocked when I saw a shelf of just Maille brand mustard imported from France, and everything was $4 AUD or under! That’s less than $3 USD! I immediately bought one large jar of whole grain Maille mustard and rejoiced in my purchase.

Given how strong the U.S. dollar is in Australia now and how stronger it’s gotten every subsequent visit here, I have a feeling I may be making more food and maybe clothing purchases while I am in town. 🙂