How do you ask for masking tape?

It's been raining today but as we've begun the next stage of our decorating we had rather more pressing concerns.....

When we were last in the UK we stocked up on decorating supplies as we've found the cost of paint in particular to be much higher here in France. Having come back with 25 litres of the stuff we are now anxious to confirm that we've got enough to complete the job.

The 'job' in question is the hall, stairs and mezzanine area... And now that we've got most of the first coat done we can relax a bit about the paint.

Colin starting on the corridor

This was pretty run-of-the mill stuff but because there are so many doors leading off, it was painstaking work.

Then came the more dramatic stuff...

The hallway is double height going up to the mezzanine and as we've not got scaffolding there was only one thing for it

Colin as we know him best... up a ladder without a paddle!

The configurations of ladder and Colin were endless. 

I didn't even dare to show the balancing act going on here!

But by the end of today we were had most of the worst bits done (note the casual use of 'we' there??)

That's when we ran out of masking tape. And how do you ask for masking tape?

Well after a hard day's decorating, you don't. You take the old rolls to the local DIY place and say "Comme ça, s'il vous plait?" A simple solution that works every time!

To be continued.....