Don't Drink the Water! - 21 July, 2018

Today was something of a Comedy of Errors.

My plan for the day, which I shared with my neighbour, was to head in to Brive - to get some more items from the DIY stores, perhaps treat my self to a meal and some sight-seeing, and to finally visit the Emmaus charity shop/brocante.

My neighbour appeared to be trying to warn me of something related to my car or parking, but I wasn't clear on what she was saying or whether it applied to outside the house or in Brive - perhaps she was suggesting it would be busy and difficult to park in Brive, it being Saturday.

The traffic into Brive was indeed busy, but once in the area of the city I was headed for it wasn't any worse than usual. I got most of the items I needed from the first DIY shop and then a few more from Carrefour and a second DIY store. I ended up buying two sets of hacksaw blades in two different shops due to forgetting my first purchase - I now have enough of the to last a few years.

I was after more hardboard. Mr Bricolage, the source of my first batch, had yet to restock. Brico Depot had plenty but, I needed the sheets cut in two to fit in the car. When I enquired whether they had a cutting service (as Mr Brocolage has), they offered me the loan of a handsaw - no thanks.

I was also hoping to get some roofing felt for the flat roof on one of the garages. After much hunting and many enquiries, I located shed felt which I doubt will be good enough. I think I'll probably buy the felt, under-felt, adhesive etc in the UK and bring it over next time - that way I'll know what I am getting.

I had a meal at a steakhouse chain (other than a take away Pizza, my first meal out of the trip) and then headed to Emmaus. This was probably my third visit to Brive with the intention of visiting this shop and this time I actually made it - only to find it closed. The opening days/hours on the door bear no relationship to those that Google provides (to be fair, the Emmaus website does have the correct times). They won't be open again on a Saturday before I leave - so I'll have to try and get over this Thursday; my last chance before I return to the UK.

I had a feeling that something was happening in Uzurche before I set out and, on my return (for reasons I can't explain) I became more suspicious. I parked the car outside the house and jumped on the bike to go and see what I could see. In an area of the town that I'd not visited before (but not far from me) I came across a huge classic car show, auto jumble and brocante (car boot sale). Had I known I would probably have postponed the trip to Brive. Fortunately I still had the chance for a good look around.

Now it became apparent that my neighbour was probably warning me that if I went into Brive, I'd lose the parking spot in front of the house due to the visitors to the town. I have to say, this is exactly the type of event Uzerche needs to 'put it on the map'.


|Trust me, just a tiny section of the hundreds of stalls
I wasn't the only one that appeared tempted.















The kit cars attracted a lot of attention

I especially liked this one.

















Perhaps reflecting the regions agricultural focus,
classic tractors possibly outnumbered classic cars.
Looking for anything that might be nice for the house, one thing I saw that was interesting was a white porcelain water fountain. On closer inspection I realised it was a urinal.


Drink, anybody?

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