Light the fire monsieur...............

Has the world gone mad or is it me? Two words to sum up today..............gullible and bizarre.

Just after we had got out of bed and sat in the cuisine having a cafe there was a loud knock at the door. A very stocky , muscle bound man stood there and said he was collecting funds for the circus. Quoi? Did I hear correctly? "Oh oui Madam!". He barged in and began his speech.

He went on to say that he was fund raising for the local circus. Throughout winter and Spring the circus can`t  perform but they have to continue to pay to vaccinate and feed the animals so he was in the region raising funds.

Right..................okay.................he then pulled from his pocket a tin of boiled sweets. The type we see in the supermarche here for 3 euros and said that they were a special edition tin. He would charge 40 euros for it and the funds would feed the animals.

Firstly had he known my feelings about captive wild animals and forcing animals to perform he perhaps would not have come to our door. Secondly....even if that tin was a collectable why would I want one?!! Thirdly, if I did want one I would buy one in the supermarche!!

We conversed a little in our best French and told him we didn`t want his tin but to get him out of the house we gave him a 10 euro donation "for the animals" and showed him the door. As he left he gave me a battered postcard of a performing horse ( no circus name or anything official to be seen) and off he went.

Had he visited the other houses in the village? Had he just called to the remotest house he could find to chance his luck? Did he just think that the "Anglaise" at Le petit Chateau would be a soft touch or was he genuinely from the circus and this is the done thing here in France?

Oh well, I might have fed a lion or on the other hand I might have bought him a few glasses of Bordeaux in the local bar .... the man that is...not the lion!!

As he left with my 10 euros in his hand I thought perhaps I should get GULLIBLE tattoed on my forehead?

And so the day continues. We visited the local supermarche ( not for a tin of boiled sweets I might add!) and on the private announcements at the exit was a photograph of an old shop fitting with lots of drawers for sale. No price was quoted just a telephone number.

 The drawers would have been good for my new office and I thought that at 200 or so euros they would have been a good buy. It looked a little battered but with a coat of Gustavian grey paint it would have worked.

We telephoned the number from the card and an old lady answered and knew nothing about any furniture at all. I redialled just incase I had pressed a wrong number but no, the same lady who knew nothing!  We went to the local brasserie for a cafe and as we left Mark tried the number and an old man answered who knew all about the furniture for sale ( apparently he had not told his wife!!) and we arranged to visit on the way home.

We were met by a tiny little man who told us he had been an upholsterer before he retired some 20 years ago and he is now 85 years old. The drawers were in his garage where he had stored his tools and he led the way.

 I must say that the photograph was wonderful because the drawers most certainly were not!! They had been hand made very solidly about 50 years ago by someone who did not possess a measure and it was very higgeldy piggeldy and filled with woodworm.

I asked the price and monsieur said "2000 euros or I will burn it! "

 We made our excuses and left.

Light the fire monsieur...............light the fire!!!!

Brocantes tomorrow...hopefully a more normal day too!!

A la prochaine mes belles!!