As today was the last working day before Christmas, Tigger was allowed to leave the office at noon. As she left, she sent me a text so I knew she was on her way. (However did we manage our lives before the smartphone was invented?!)

Walking through Chapel Market

I walked though a fairly busy Chapel Market, heading for the bus stop at Islington Green where Tigger would arrive aboard a number 43 bus.

Upper Street, Islington Green
Photo by Tigger

Following our joyous reunion, we walked down the road to Caffè Nero.

Coffee break at Caffè Nero
Photo by Tigger

Here we enjoyed a coffee break and caught up with one another’s adventures. Tigger then told me she had booked us a table at Bellanger as a Christmas treat.

Bellanger

At the appointed time, we crossed the road to Islington Green beside which stands Bellanger’s French-style restaurant. This is one of our favourites but as it’s a little bit pricey we visit it sparingly.

Bellanger’s reception

We were received at the reception desk and, our reservation having been checked, were led to our table.

The table is laid
Photo by Tigger

The restaurant was busy – all tables were occupied – so there was a little wait for the food to arrive. Bellanger has a number of vegetarian items on the menu, happily.

Christmas tree
Photo by Tigger

Tigger photographed Bellanger’s Christmas tree…

The décor

…while I photographed the décor.

It might be my imagination, though I think not, that this year shops and businesses are displaying much less in the way of Christmas decorations than in previous years. Is this because of a need to save money and cut costs or a reflection of the mood of austerity in the country? Or perhaps it has to do with the fact that the UK is no longer a Christian country: in the 2021 census, only 46.2% of respondents claimed to be Christian. That means that the majority of shoppers are out to acquire their share of festive cheer but without the need of religious claptrap to justify doing so.

Crème Brûlée

I won’t bore you with our menu but just mention that we had our favourite dessert, crème brûlée.

Islington Green in the rain

Leaving the restaurant, we found that the naughty weather had disobeyed the Met Office’s forecast. Instead of the promised dry conditions, it was pelting down with rain.

Nothing daunted, we put our heads down and hurried to our next destination: Sainsbury’s. As Christmas Day falls on our usual shopping day, Sunday, we were going to do our shopping today instead.

Sainsbury’s was busy

Unsurprisingly, Sainsbury’s was quite busy but we persevered and collected our items.

At the checkout, the bill was about average for our weekly shopping trips. However, during the year, we save up our “points” (see The points game) and redeem them at Christmas and the New Year. As a result, today’s bill came to a princely £1.43! And we still have some credit left over for the New Year.

It was still raining when we left Sainsbury’s but we were soon home. Having put away the shopping and made tea, we have the rest of the day to ourselves!