Day 2 – Toulouse to Bordeaux

September 20^th, 2002

hunting down the perfect pain aux chocolat

In the morning, we started to put the bikes together. Putting together my bike was fairly straightforward, putting Spiros’ together  was a totally different matter. First we struggled with the headset. Then we broke the cycling computer by snapping the cord. Our final task was to adjust the seat. As we were tightening the seat-post bolt, we heard a very large and ominous “crack”…. we had snapped the bolt!!! That innocent-looking little bolt was a deal breaker; he would not be able to ride the bike till we fixed it. So, we took the bus to the Toulouse train station to catch our train to Bordeaux.  (In the end, we were actually glad that we didn’t ride into town. The route looked very congested, it would have been a difficult ride).

The train ride to Bordeaux went by very quickly. We spent most of it chatting with an older French couple (born in Montreal, we speak French). Almost the entire conversation was about, what else, food. She even recited a few recipes for me.

When we got to Bordeaux, it was extremely hot. Due to the seat post problem, we pushed our bikes to the hotel. You would think that after 72 hours of not sleeping, we would crash. But…nah, WE’RE IN FRANCE! We took some quick showers to wash off the grime and left. First things first, we instinctively knew what the other was thinking…we need chocolate! Within twenty minutes, we had hunted down the perfect pain au chocolat and pain avec pépites (bread with chocolate chips). Though you can’t really go wrong with a boulangerie in France, we knew we had found the right spot; “pure butter” was part of the establishment’s name.  (Anyone reading this journal, will soon question whether we went to France for the history, culture and great bike touring or just for the food…well, it’s a toss-up. Okay, we’re lying, it’s the food!!! In our everyday lives, we usually try to eat low-fat, health conscious meals…but when we travel in France, it is no holds barred, “only eat it if its oozing chocolate or cheese”).  Anyway, we devoured our treats, and found a bike shop with the required bolt and cycling computer to replace the one that we mangled at the airport. By this time, the hot weather had turned into rain..a lot of rain...thunderstorms actually. Never seen rain go sideways like that before! (And we live in Vancouver; we know rain). Anyway, no worries…that just meant it was time to eat again. We sought refuge in a little café and had paninis. We went back to the hotel and finally fell asleep, only to be woken up a few hours later by golf size hail coming through the window.