The Kitchen

 Our new apartment will be equipped with toilet and bathroom etc. but not with anything at all in the kitchen. Not even a sink. So we need to purchase a kitchen and engage a kitchen fitter.

A friend who knows how to fit kitchens suggested buying an Ikea kitchen. "They're guaranteed twenty years and they honour their guarantee", he said. "I've proved it".

Well I don't know any other kitchen laces in France, and I can't imagine there's much that's cheaper than Ikea, so I was happy to accept his advice. So it was that on Monday I booked an appointment with the Ikea Kitchen Planning Service in the centre of Bordeaux.

The woman was friendly. "You've already started the process", she said, (have we?) "so that will save us lots of time".

"What are you aiming for?" Something not too country, something discreet, something that can adapt to whatever colours we put in the rest of the room.

She understood our dislike of corner cupboards, with or without baroque rotating wire shelves, and our preference for avoiding wall cupboards (you can't see what's in them, and it falls on your head when you open the cupboard door). She liked our idea of making an island. She thought putting the dishwasher next to the sink made sense. The design was completed very quickly and printed out with a complete list of hinges, brackets, bolts and catches. 

"We have three good fitters and they would be happy to come and see your place when you have access. All the parts are available immediately and you need about eight weeks notice to book your fitter", she said.

There we are then.