Renovations run on

Shopping at the French B&Q

We drove into Perpignan on Tuesday; Jane had carefully written down the directions, which included when you go over motorway bridges and when you go under them. I had taken note of the name of the road, and put that into the satnav, so we were fine. We left her instructions at home.

We selected some more light fittings for the kitchen and studio, and went in search of tiles to re-tile the new shower enclosure in the bathroom. The shop had a match for the old tiles, but not enough stock in boxes. Carol found the man to ask and set about asking for more. “How many did we need?” About 250 in total. There were 4 boxes of 44, making 176. The shop assistant set about raiding the display shelves and got another 44. That made 220. There were another 37 on the shelves so we took the lot, and then some pencil tiles to match the one we had taken with us.

Bingo, we seem to have what we need. But then after we get back, I check the invoice to write up our expenses in a file. We have been charged twice for four boxes of tiles, about €50. We shall have to go back and explain the mistake and ask for a refund. In French. Which will be difficult, no doubt.

The temperature has dropped; our builders were scraping ice off the car windshields this morning, and there is a heavy covering of snow on Mount Canigou. We are sheltered in Céret of course, and we did not have a fire lit last night while watching TV, or even a heater on. This little house is quite warm still.

So, back to Perpignan on Wednesday; I rehearsed a few French phrases before we left, and they served me well. With the €50 refund, we went off to Emmaus, the charity shop between Perpignan and Le Boulou and found two chairs, a small one for a bedroom, and a larger one which is covered in a similar gold dralon and will match our lounge chairs. Fortunately we just managed to squeeze them into the back of the Volvo. The €50 has just been recycled back into the local economy, as well as the chairs.

Back at home, “two dogs” Dave is battling with the leak in the shower and basin waste pipe. The reason becomes clear – a section of lead piping remains in the walled off bit, and cannot be removed, and the plastic pipes that had been fitted were warped after being heated to bend them to fit. The solution appears to be to treat the two waste pipes separately, allowing a proper drop to each waste, and no stagnant bowing in the middle. The builders say that they have come across other plumbers heating and bending the rigid tubes, and it always distorts the cut ends into an oval, which will not seal.

Popping over to Jane’s to give her some Velcro cable ties from the superstore, we stay for tea. She has a problem with sending e-mails, can I help her. We sign off and back on, and then change her password. This seems to fix the problem, and I tell her to make a note of it in case she forgets later. She writes down “Buggerthelotofyou + a number”, and I think that’s a very long password and could easily be shortened to “buggeroff”. But I like her style.