Another event filled day!
We got away in good time, and the promised rain seemed to stay away for the most part, so we thought that maybe our luck had changed. I even managed to find my missing gloves, hiding in a side compartment of my backpack. Then after a couple of hours we noticed that we were far more inland than the map suggested was appropriate and with a sinking feeling we realized that our GPS had tricked us once again. Then a cold wind blew up, the dark clouds assembled, and the drenching rain began. And because things happen in threes, my pedal then fell off.*
We tried to screw it back in to no avail, so it was back to our old friend Patrick. I rang and explained the situation, and he asked immediately to talk to my husband (who speaks no French). This put my blood pressure up no end, but to be fair it could have been an easy fix and he was just making sure that I wasn’t being ditzy. We amazingly managed to limp to the next town where we hoped to be able to wait for the repair man while eating lunch. Unfortunately everything was closed, as it was in the next town we managed to make it to, despite both being suggested lunch stops for our tour. Do French people not eat anymore??
Anyway, eventually the repair man turned up and with his tools and some new pedals he got me road worthy again.
I thought afterwards maybe I should have mentioned that my battery doesn’t lock in place, and in fact has fallen off onto the roadway several times over bumpy sections, but I guess I can leave it until the next call out.
We eventually had a late lunch of galette with goats cheese from a roadside caravan, and headed off on our way.
We’ve now arrived at our destination for the night, and not only are we all dry but in fact we’re all sunburnt to some extent. Time for predinner drinks.
*This is actually a reporting error, because I’m not mentioning my being stung by a nettle, or Simon being phoned by the police because a patient of his had died and he needed to come and certify the body. But “things coming in threes” makes a good narrative.