Thanksgiving Grocery, We Hardly Knew Ya

Thanksgiving Grocery, circa 2014, 4th Arr.

There's no Thanksgiving holiday in France, though they certainly don't lack for days off from work and school. Even without the traditional US feast day, however, they have had no problem adopting Black Friday sales.

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But up until 2018, an American expat ran the Thanksgiving Grocery in the 4th Arrondissement. It specialized in U.S. brands such as Skippy peanut butter, Jell-O, and Campbell's soup. It also claimed to have "cuisine de la Louisiane," which I assume was just Tabasco Sauce.

The store is now closed, although I'm aware of at least one other épicerie Américaine (American grocery store), The Real McCoy, where you can get Thanksgiving fixin's like Jiffy cornbread mix and Libby's canned pumpkin--maybe the only place for canned pumpkin in the entire country.

The Real McCoy épicerie Américaine, 7th Arr. It just ain't real Thanksgiving without Uncle Henri's stuffing à la Lucky Charms.

Mostly, though, it seems to be Snickers bars and other American candy brands. I guess if you're the kind of American parent who drags their kids to Paris, it's a godsend to stumble across a place that has Flamin' Hot Cheetos and Sour Patch gummies in packages they recognize. From a kid's perspective, Paris must seem like just a bunch of weird food, old-ass churches and a bunch of "art" about dead people they never heard of--barely worth putting up with until the promised day when they finally get to go Disneyland Paris. I'm sure a few Pop-Tarts go a long way towards stifling the complaining as they shuffle their feet through the Louvre, or get cajoled into posing like their finger is on top of the Eiffel Tower, and Notre Dame, and Sacre-Cœur.

Plus there's marshmallow Fluff, which must seem to the French like the linchpin of American cuisine, if its prominence at Thanksgiving Grocery, Real McCoy and the small, American shelf in the international section at La Grande Épicerie de Paris is any indication. But with that staple, a jar of Jif and a loaf of sandwich Américain bread from the supermarché, you've got Fluffernutter. Not a bad way to count down the days until you're waiting in line to ride Space Mountain.