Drive-Through Groceries

Last week, I spent hours slogging through the website for Auchan Drive, one of our local drive-through grocery stores. It took so long mainly because *everyone and his dog* was doing the same thing! By the time I got an order in, they were out of everything fresh - I loaded up on heavy and long-lasting items instead.

So, I got my appointment for picking up my groceries - a week's delay - and went this morning. Here's how it went.

First off, we're in confinement, and the rules for each town are somewhat different - no one knows all of them. It's been published that you can go outside alone, with your attestation. You can exercise within 2 kilometers of your home, but no farther. You can go shopping, but "not too far"... A friend confirmed that the police warned him that Balaruc was too far from Sète (11 km). Well, Auchan Drive is 5 km away from home, but still in Sète. No one stopped me, so who knows if this distance is ok...

I put my bags in the trunk, and my cart in the back seat, and drove off. Finding Auchan wasn't too difficult - good signs, and it has its own roundpoint. First stop, the electronic kiosk.

The kiosk is the only place on the whole trip that is not contactless. You can swipe your Auchan card past the reader, but then you have to use the touchscreen and credit card keypad to complete your checkout and get your receipt. OK, I had my pack of bleach-wipes with me. What I should have done was immediately wipe my hands and cards after finishing there. But, it was my first time, and so I didn't know whether there would be further contact. Also, I had two orders to pick up, and so I had to go through the entire process twice :-(

At the end, the screen tells you which numbered slot to park in. I drove there, unlocked the trunk, and the fellow (covered head to toe in protective gear) scanned the barcode on my receipt, opened the trunk, and loaded in my groceries. He didn't put them in the bags (I had wondered about that), but was very careful to arrange the items so they didn't clank around, and didn't break my eggs. When he was done, he said so - I wiped down my hands and car, and drove back home.

Back at chez moi, I loaded all those loose items into my cart (man, was that heavy!), swiped my bleach-wipe along the trunk handle, and got everything all inside. Done!