Thanks for the tip, I'm off to the local Lidl right now!

I adore bread. Nearly all kinds.

But as an Indian friend at med school with me pointed out, it's edible but it's not really food. ie it's suitable as an occasional side to a meal but it's nutritional component are negligible.

(Passing Aussie-Brit Francophile insomniac based in SoCal)

What is funny is that the French get quite in a panic if they do not have fresh bread to eat with their meals. I'm sure it was just used as a filler-upper in poorer times when the main part of the meal was not very substantial. This theory is not very well taken!

Perhaps your friend should have tried living in Ireland just over 100 years ago when bread (when available) was essential in provided nutrition and bulk to starving children.
It is also more nutritious than rice.
Have a look at this article:
Nutritional Properties of Bread- BakeInfo (Baking Industry Research Trust)

"Bread supplies a significant portion of the nutrients required for growth, maintenance of health and well-being. It is an excellent source of proteins, vitamins, minerals, fibre and complex carbohydrates. It is also low in fat and cholesterol. Bread is quite bulky so it takes longer to digest and is therefore more satisfying and less fattening than the fats, sugars and alcohols commonly consumed in excess. All breads are nutritious, and the differences between them in nutritional value are not significant if we eat a balanced diet."

The point is that vegetables are more nutritious. And the link you provide, it's obviously biased - look who published it.

Gosh, yes. Potatoes are the best starch. I felt bad when I started eating baguettes and quickly gave them up. White flour is very low in nutrients and fibre and often has been treated to make it white. To say all breads and flours are the same...?

Just reading this thread has made me hungry and oh so nostalgic. It is nearly four years since I left my lovely La Flèche with all her wonderful bakers and came to Canada. My son had to do 'an advertisement' at school the other day about the country he was born in. His was "France - where the climate's live able and the food is edible". Says it all really...cherish your bakers!

It might have been better if you had just said that the first time.

I've refrained from commenting on this topic up to now.
Had a new poster said they thought bread was awful in France, and not had a decent sandwich here for 5 years, I would have immediately accused them of being a troll. However Bobby2 appears to be pretty genuine with some other posts - albeit a person I perceive to be cautious, and particularly anxious.
Purchasing sliced Harrie's bread whilst in France is sacrilege, (just my personal feelings of course).
The truth is, 'real' bread in France is second to none!
I suggest the following. Look for a boulangerie displaying the sign shown below, or similar which indicates an 'artisan boulanger'.
Ask for a pain au levain naturel, and request that it be sliced, "en tranches svp". If it is not exactly to your taste, try another artisan.
If you are still not satisfied that it's excellent tasting sandwich bread, alas - France is not for you.

My local baker does some fantastic breads but she still not have anything like a granary loaf for sandwiches. I tried the Lidl one that someone recommended, but it wasn't great.

I'm not suggesting that all French bakers are good. They're not. Of the 6 bakers in the town nearest to us, two display the artisan boulanger sign - and in my opinion their bread is first-class.

WTF
Many things I don't like about the UK...maybe the UK was not for me? Bit of a sweeping statement that. As for troll

How it seems to me is, If a person has never lived in the UK, and has never got accustomed to a regular diet of sandwiches and sliced bread (and super sleek labs but that's another thread), they wouldn't have a problem with the fact that these things are not available. They'd try what is available and pick out of that what they liked best.

But when you move, instead of doing that it's easy to fall into the trap of comparing what your new country has with what your old country had. Of course they have different things. Wouldn't travelling lose a lot of its fun if every country had the same food, the same customs, the same shaped dogs. But IMHO, if you "move", rather than go on holiday, you have to let go of what you left behind mentally as well as physically. It's still in the back of your mind, and I guess we all grab a packet of chocolate digestives or Yorkshire tea or whatever when the fancy takes us. But if you let it stay in the front of your mind and you can't get past it, it gets in the way and stops you adapting. You look for substitutes, and because they're not really part of that country's culture they're not going to be what it does best. Just like the "French baguettes" you buy in UK supermarkets are not really French baguettes. Adapting, and discovering the things that your new country is good at, is what it's all about, IMHO.

How true - they are even worse than Harry's bread!

What I really miss and I always head for when I return to the UK is a good - blow your socks off - Indian curry. Add to that a nice garlic nan to soak up the sauce.
Still we all have our weaknesses - don't we?