Tuesday, May 21, 2019

May 21 2019 Rest day Toulouse





Today was a rest day and I was determined to have a day where I did nothing.   Sleep in have a late breakfast and generally wind down.  However I was alone in this agenda and there were people up and down the stairs at 6:30 am.  The stairs in this place are a wooden open design and every step is squeaky. Once awake I was up.  

The morning was spent doing chores and getting caught up on tour accounting.  I had a near panic as one of the hotel reservation sheets was missing from the pile and after the episode in Vancouver where the booking agency had gone bankrupt and cancelled my reservation it was a mad scramble.  In my spread sheet I had the confirmation number which was only one digit off from the cancelled reservation. I couldn’t find it in my e-mails.  A couple of searches and it turned up as an Expedia reservation so everything was fine.  But there was that “OH NO” few minutes.

I walked over to the local market and picked up a Baggett, cheese and ham for lunch for Agnes and myself.  

After lunch Bob and I walked downtown and wandered the streets.  We dropped into a couple of bike shops and marvelled at the array of e-bikes which were for sale.  A few years ago these shops would have been full of the latest in ultra-light road bikes but now are full of different models of e-bikes.  A lot of the models are using the motor down on the bottom bracket however the lightest ones are using a powered rear hub.  These bikes range from the bike path cruiser to city delivery bikes which have large baskets or parcel holders. There are very few road bikes in the stores.  

After wandering about we decided on a convenient corner and settled down for a beer.  It was nice and sunny and warm. It was so pleasant watching the people out doing their shopping and wandering in the walking area of the downtown.  

On our way back to the condo we ran into Ken and Judy who had also decided to do a stroll. 
This evening Bob has done some research on local curry places and is going to guide us to one he has picked out and give us a lesson in Indian food.   It should be fun

Tomorrow is a 121 kms ride up to Cahors.  The first 55 kms is along a canal path so it will be quite nice. The weather forecast is for a beautiful day and it looks like the weather is going to be much better the rest of the week.  Thursday is the biggest day of the tour at 140 kms. 

Terry



7 comments:

Jim said...

Hey Terry and Crew,

I got a week behind the blog ,dealing with medical stuff, but back reading the high adventure. As usual, your pictures are spectacular and narrative spell binding. Every day you are faced with weather, mechanical, and logistical challenges, and every day you rise to the occasion and defiantly say “bring it on”. What an adventure and what a tough crew. Keep it up! You are my hero.
Jim

Howard Brown said...

Terry, I noticed that you devoted a fair amount of your dialogue to "electric" bikes. Is this an omen portending things to come? Just saying.....

wendeth1 said...

Rest days are the best!

Anonymous said...

An early morning squeaky stair wake-up followed by a beer on a convenient corner. On average, a pretty good day off, I'd say.

Enjoy your coming week's rides.

Calgary Ken C.

Pino said...

I thought I had been commenting every day but I don't see them when i check back. I am going to email you to see if you have seen any of my comments. Sounds like the days are turning into memorable ones.
Cynthia

Merrilynne said...

Enjoy the rest! Enjoying the pictures. Hi to Agnes.

Marilyn said...

Hey Terry and Agnes. I am also doing a catch up on your blog. Been super busy as well as Bill. But he’s getting very excited about Fishing Trip #2, the annual with his 7 buddies. I’m loving your France 🇫🇷 blog and pictures and hope to travel there soon. Your baguette 🥖, cheese 🧀 and ham. MISSING: le vin rouge. Enjoy and stay safe. Marilyn