A Shopping Experience.

I recently read an article about an American writer who wondered if a stranger could dress him better than himself. The premise for the story was the increasing number of online apparel stores dedicated to sending parcels of clothes to men as 'Men Hate To SHOP'

From the article:
A 2007 study from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania observed that “women are happy to meander through sprawling clothing and accessory collections or detour through the shoe department.” On the other hand, men are on the hunt for one item and one item only, wanting to get in and get out as expeditiously as possible.

So, I shouldn't have been surprised. We left the house at 8:00 a.m. heading north for 2.5 hours to the city of Tours, located on the Cher River in the Loire Valley. The weather was a drizzly grey then rainy but as soon as the Peage (Toll) road ended the sun magically appeared. It was as if we had paid to enter a new land.
Thank goodness for GPS as the route from the highway to the  IKEA store was a complicated one. We parked, Brian took Angus for a walk and we decided not to get a cart just yet.
We had never been to an IKEA store before, so I was excited to see what they had for sale.  The first thing I saw was packaged and canned food. I stopped to look.  "I didn't know they sold food", I exclaimed. Brian's reply "I thought we were here to look at bathroom stuff, not food. Let's go."
So you see, I should not have been surprised.
After a while, we managed to find the bathroom department, it is such a big store with many nooks and crannies. There were several vanities, in odd or common colors. Some had to be attached to the wall as they had no legs - great for cleaning. Some looked like shiny plastic, others were wood. We thought we'd like one with two sinks as we've been used to that for the last 30 years. There was only one in wood with two sinks. After spending 5 minutes looking around Brian said, then that is it and went to find the saleslady. Thankfully, you do not have to pay there. We were given an invoice with the cost and we would be able to pay and pick it up on the way out. 
It was nearing 11:30 and we were hungry. Normally in France you would never find food being served prior to noon. We'd heard all about the delicious Swedish meat balls and so shared a plate of 15 along with a side plate of salad and a wedge of goat's cheese plus an iced tea. Total bill just over €6,00. Best value anywhere.
Being a woman, I have the right to change my mind.  I had not been happy with our quick decision on the vanity. As with most women, I like to take my time to digest the options and get a feel for them. I thought the color too dark. I didn't like the style. So, back to the bathroom department where we made a better deal as the new clerk gave us a form to immediately sign up for a fidelity card and this gave us a 10% discount. The one we choose was on sale but only in white - yes! That was the right color. It does not have two sinks but that might be a moot point; one never knows what will happen when a husband and wife, together, attempt to assemble flat pack furniture.
 On the bright side the instructions are in several languages and the pictures are simple enough even for us to follow.


Translation: For your shopping, you can find the buggies in the store.
                     Leave them here after shopping. Thank you.

No buggies or carts in France. We have chariots!