Food cost in France compared to Portugal

I have a friend who while travelling from the UK to not far from me called in Brittany for a few days to visit a family member of his. I mentioned to him about a cafe i called in and had a bowl of soup for a late morning snack. He told me he paid about 5€ for a bowl of soup and 7€ for a pint of lager. He is lucky after being here for a while house hunting he knows how cheap prices are. In the cafe i went to where i paid 1.10€ for a big bowl of soup and a bread roll to go with it.

Who knows how much a bowl this size would have cost in France. Also what good is bread if you buy it in the morning and by early evening it's hard as a lump of concrete.