17.12 Day 92 . . . Ruined By Strictly

We decided last night that we would have the day out today and explore Niort and the surrounding shops a little more today - we had been told about some larger stores on the outskirts of the town worth visiting.
We drove to Niort in lovely bright sunshine, however it was very cold . . . at least the wind was! Roxvanne was frozen within an inch of her life when we got in her. We finally parked up near to the church near the centre of the town, having nearly not made due to a slight mis-understanding between the driver (me) and the left front passenger window observer (Tre). Tre had apparels at a blind junction for me said ‘OK’ meaning she would give me the all clear, I however understood the ‘OK’ as it was fine to pull out. A very near miss but all was fine - just a little tense in Roxvanne for the next ten minutes.
A quick visit to our new favourite cafe in the centre for chocolate’s, mainly due to Tre’s delight at the chandeliers within and then over to the indoor market. We bought two huge pork chops, that we we thought we would sub divide when home making four and also some more giant garlics amongst other bits and pieces.We then undertook a little more exploring of the lanes and shops before returning to Roxvanne.
Next stop a quite large Decathlon on the outskirts of town. Tre had not set foot in one before, so was highly delighted to see the various thermal tops and legging’s that she so loves, now that the weather has turned chilly. I thought it only fair to jump in on the clothes purchase’s so we headed to the check out with a slightly fuller basket than I ad anticipated.
Next stop ‘Leroy Merlin’ a bit like B&Q but on acid. Fortunately due to us not having the house of our dreams yet we held back from the urge to buy bloody loads!!
Across the road was a little diner ‘Fabrik’Locale - so we popped in to grab a sandwich. Slight issue was the only thing they didn’t do was sandwiches . . . lovely little meals Yes, but sandwiches No. Now committed to a table, we decided to eat and were really pleased we did. We both opted for the Bravette Steak which was stunning - really unexpected. This was topped off with an equally lovely apple crumble and ice cream. We will be back for another visit.
From here we went to what had been described to us as a large ‘Christmas’ shop - La Foir’Fouille which is on the north west side of the town. Now I do like Christmas, but Im not the biggest fan and don’t go mad about it. On entering this shop I knew I was in trouble as Tre nearly started dancing with joy. There then commenced an hour or so of comparing different colour and size trees, working out lengths and power type of lights and sifting through hundreds of other Christmas decorations. My bah humbug did relent and we got a little carried away with what we bought . . . but Ive got to say it was worth it for the feel good factor.
With half of the shop loaded into Roxvanne, we made our way home and for yet another evening were treated to stunning sunsets most of the way home.
At home and settled for the evening all my good work and kindest of the day was rewarded with DEATH BY STRICTLY - The FINAL and thereby lost 3 hours of my life, that I will never get back.
That was it - my day finished, a really lovely day, ruined by a gaggle of so called celebrities either prancing around in pantomime costumes, or delivering their inflated verdicts on others.
Time for bed !Read more