Brive today

I want to get my ‘poele a bois’ installed this week, simple as that. I just needed to buy six 1 metre lengths of 150mm diameter flue pipe and a bracket to hold it in position at roof level, inside the chimney that I just repaired, so I can make a start and an internet search showed that the place to go is Leroy Merlin, where I bought my kitchen worktops from. So yesterday I headed across to their depot at Chancelade, the other side of Perigueux. I could hardly believe my eyes when I turned into the car park, which was absolutely packed out, and when I went into the store it was manic. I’d checked the stock of the flue pipes I needed on their web site before I left and the quantity available was very small. When I found the right shelf, the cartons that had contained the ones I was looking for were empty and after trying to get hold of an assistant for several minutes, I decided that it was time to give up. So I came home and checked to see where the next nearest Leroy Merlin depot is and found that it’s at Brive la Gaillarde, about 35 miles or so away, a bit further but not too far, and the best thing was that the stock figure there was much higher than for Perigueux.

So that’s where I headed for today, after tapping the address into my trusty satnav. It turned out that just as for Perigueux, the Brive Leroy Merlin depot is a few kilometres outside the town, but after following my satnav and taking a rather circuitous route to the south, I duly ended up there. And it couldn’t have been more different compared to the day before. I think that the Brive depot must be newer than the one at Perigueux, not that that matters very much, but there was plenty of room in the car park and I was able to park almost outside the store entrance. And finding my way around inside was both a pleasure and a piece of cake compared to yesterday. It didn’t take long to find, pick up and pay for the stuff I wanted and pretty soon I was loaded up and heading for home.

Once again, I followed my satnav, which has never let me down on all my travels around France, and I was pleased when it told me to turn left towards the ‘centre ville’, as I’ve never been into Brive before. What I saw was charming and I made a mental note to go back there sometime and see some more. But at least I’ve now got what I need to get going properly on my wood burner install. The flue pipes are standing ready to go in my kitchen and this evening I’ve been researching suppliers for metal suitable for making a sealing plate for the flue above the wood burner in the fireplace. I’ve found one who can make and deliver what I want in 48 hours, so now at last I’m all ready to go 😉