One of my favorite adventures of Asterix and Obelix is Le Tour de Gaule (Around France)* In an attempt to show up the local Roman soldiers, our intrepid heroes attempt to complete a trip around France bringing back the regional specialties from the different cities they visit. If they were to  undertake the task today, the duo might do some of their shopping at Leclerc.

E.Leclerc is a cooperative representing almost 700 stores around Europe. In France, E.Leclerc is one of the largest grocery chains controlling close to 20% of the market. They are also – if these two ads are to be believed – le moins cher. (the least expensive)**

* It’s a play on “le Tour de France”, the famous cycling race around France. Gaule (or Gaul) is, of course, the ancient name for what we now call France. The usage also shows up in Jules Verne’s Le Tour du monde en 80 jours (Around the world in 80 days).
** The word ‘cher’ means ‘expensive’ or ‘dear’. Like any adjective, ‘cher’ needs to agree with the noun (or nouns) being modified. The feminine form is ‘chère‘, and the plurals are ‘chers’ and ‘chères’. Conveniently (or perhaps not, since it won’t help you identify the gender and number of the noun in a spoken sentence!) all four forms are pronounced the same way.
*** Do you know the difference between ‘chiffre’, ‘nombre’, and ‘numero’? ‘Un chiffre’ is the number equivalent of a letter. It is literally the thing you write. In English we would say ‘digit’. ‘Les chiffres sont 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, et 9.’ ‘Un nombre’ (‘number’) is made up of two or more ‘chiffres’.  20, 999, 4,000 are ‘nombres’. ‘Un numero‘ is a specific numerical designation like ‘un numero de telephone’ (‘a telephone number), ‘un numero de chambre’ (‘hotel room number’), or ‘le numero de rue’ (‘the street number [for a house or building]).