After a night free from neighbourly snoring, I was outside Arnaud’s bike shop when it opened at 10am. Sadly, he wasn’t there, but his colleague willingly set aside whatever he was working on to discuss my situation.
Within the hour, he had fitted Bernard with two new Schwalbe Delta Cruise tyres with inner tubes. And my tool kit now contains the requisite Allen key, and two spare tubes. As you can see, I couldn’t bear to throw away nearly new tyres, so have added them to my luggage…
The rest of the day was spent gently meandering around the very pretty town of La Rochelle, where you can eat extremely well, provided you don’t mind paying a premium.
As well as building fantastic cycling infrastructure, and exhorting drivers to give priority to cyclists, the local authorities of this busy port town are also mindful of the marine environment. The sign reads, ‘Don’t throw anything away, don’t pour anything away. The sea starts here.’
Tomorrow I head to Saintes, and another night of camping. I sincerely hope not to have to get my puncture repair kit out again any time soon.
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