Naturalia — Bio Store in Montmartre, Paris

This is a branch of Naturalia, the bio chain, sitting on Rue de Maubeuge in Montmartre, a short walk from the upper funicular station. You walk in off a residential street where the shop doubles as the corner grocery for the flats above and around it.

The reason to come is the produce: fruit and vegetables sold organic and seasonal, at prices that read as reasonable rather than precious. That is the pick here, and it is what fills the front of the shop. Alongside it sit gluten-free takeaway meals, useful if you are eating on the move, with one caveat worth knowing before you buy: the forks supplied with them contain gluten, and there is no wooden fork option.

The layout was reworked and the shop reads cleaner and better organised than it once did, with a product mix that has been rethought. Depending on the day, shelves and fridge cabinets can sit empty.

Checkout is where the shop tends to work well: the cashier tracks what you have in your bags without looking, and will walk you through whether you qualify for benefits and what a membership card gets you, opening hours and product range included. Staff also give advice on what to buy. A 100-euro note can be refused, on the instruction that bills over 50 euros are not taken.

Budget for a normal neighbourhood shop rather than a destination spend: the produce is the value, and the takeaway meals are the convenience buy. Come before the evening, since the shop shuts at 8:45 pm on weekdays and at 12:45 pm on Sunday.