Brico mania

We were having trouble finding suitable trim for the inside panel of the doors, so I suggested a little trip to Troyes. A friend had told us of a large ‘Brico’ (DIY shop) on the outskirts of Troyes, which I thought may be a good place to try.

The shop was huge, and packed full of useful hardware bits. We did manage to buy a few things, including a nice new garden broom, but unfortunately no trim. We did have another great find though, as next door there was a lumber yard and builders merchant which we could walk around and actually price the products on sale, which can be surprisingly difficult in DIY stores in France. This has always been the case at our local ones, where they seem to expect you to know what you want, and you need to order it from the counter, so it was great to be able to walk around. We found a whole bunch of wood and building products that we need to start the garden shed that I’d like.

Excited by our finds, and plans to return, we headed off to the Bricorama, another store just opposite this one, in the hope of finding the much needed trim. Success! They had a much better selection, and we were soon counting out how much we needed.

It was such a gorgeous day and, with our successful morning behind us, we decided to stop off for a bit of lunch at ’Feuillette’, before heading into the city centre for a little wander. Feuillette boulangeries and cafés can be found all over France, and they’re a great place for a snack.

It was nice seeing Troyes in the sunshine, although it was still very cold. We’d noticed a new flower shop had opened on the little street that has a couple of good brocantes and a coffee shop we like. It was very striking, and looked quite good value.

After completing our shopping tasks we needed to warm up, so we dropped into a pleasant little cafe for a cup of tea and a hot chocolate.

I had wanted to visit the Notre Dame exhibition at the cité de vitrail, but we both decided over our drinks it had been quite a long day, so we plan to return to visit it before it finishes on 9th March.