We decided to stay at the Hotel des Pins another day. 556 francs for two nights. 139 francs each. We needed the rest and my tire is still not right. It was flat when I went to get it this morning. I pumped it up and we went looking for a bike shop in Soulac-sur-Mer. No luck. A lot of places are closed for the season. " Where were all those bike shops the books had talked about?"
The wind was so strong it had blown the sand from the beaches up onto the streets of the town. They were clearing it away with plows the same way we plow snow back home. We gave up looking for a bike shop, bought some wine, cheese, fruit and bread and headed for Pointe De Grave. We went part way on the highway and then onto the bike path. We stopped to walk on the beach and Virginia and I went down to the waters edge, took off our shoes and waded in the waves.
In Pointe de Grave we had lunch at the park near a light house which was on a rise overlooking the Gironde river and the Atlantic ocean. It was across the river from Royan, a fairly big city where a ferry boat runs across on a regular basis. Rick had gone across this way when he had been in the area in the spring, and cycled farther up the coast. We did not have the energy or the time to do this. Off shore we could see a deep sea oil rig. Two freighters were coming in to go up the Gironde river. The pilot boat took a pilot out to each of them to navigate the ships up the river.
While having lunch we watched two young guys playing in the surf. They were on small surf boards. They would throw them in the water and then run, jump on them and make one turn on the incoming wave. (Stanley said they were called skim boards) This has been the nicest day so far. Only rained a few times so far and we managed to get under cover and not get wet.
We rode back to Soulac-sur-Mer on the bike path. Just outside of Pointe De Grave we hit a bad bump and Judy's back tire went flat. We are getting lots of experience changing tires.
Back at the hotel I took my tire off
and changed the tube again. I found a small piece of glass or
something embedded in the outside of the tire and another small
hole in the tube. I took the tire and the extra tube, blown up,
into my bedroom for the night to make sure it would be OK in the
morning. I had a nice steak dinner to-night and we only drank two
and a half bottles of wine to-day. I took a French magazine to my
room to read. It is about Phillip of Spain going to university in
the United States. Slow reading for me in French but interesting
. Well it was a good day. Sweet dreams.
35km.
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To check out some of my other adventures follow these links.
El Camino de Santiago, Spain
Ecuador and Peru adventures
Trekking in Nepal