September 26, 2023
In Toulouse
baggage - where art thou?
It is hard to have a cycle tour without bicycles. This weighs heavy on our minds as we wake on a sunny morning in Toulouse. We are hoping that all four of our bags will arrive on the morning flight from Canada. There is only one flight a day. So if they do not all arrive on that flight we will need additional nights in Toulouse and our touring plan going forward will also need some adjustment.
Using our delayed baggage file number, Scott has been checking the world baggage tracing site. He can see that there have not been any electronic updates and only the same limited information available. Basically, there was nothing to indicate that our bags had been loaded in Montreal. This was a bit depressing as we were clinging to the hope that they would somehow arrive today.
We went to the hotel breakfast and found ourselves with surprisingly good appetites given the time change and our state of anxiousness. We enjoyed a selection of fine cheeses, breads and cereals as well as excellent coffee. Scott has been missing his coffee lately. Back in the room we knew that the flight from Canada had already landed two hours previous but there were still no baggage file updates. We decided to put our knowledge of the Toulouse transit system back to the test and head out to the airport. It only took about 40 minutes and this baggage thing really is a show stopper.
We immediately headed to the arrivals level but the baggage area was a secured space and we could not just freely enter it. However, we found a door marked "baggage services". There was a door bell and through an intercom we spoke to a real person who let us in. We walked briskly to the area where we completed the delayed baggage form the previous day and saw bags spilling out of the back door of the office. Our bike suitcases and kit were immediately recognized and you cannot believe the joy when we discovered that all four pieces were, in fact, there! Two agents were organizing this mess and they assured us that they would have the bags delivered to our hotel this afternoon. We could take them now but we would need to arrange a taxi to carry all the gear so we decided to leave it with them and begin to enjoy our day in Toulouse. Pat said that she would love to celebrate with a beer right now but it was barely noon! All is good and we could not have had better results.
Now that we were experts with the Toulouse transit system we headed back to our hotel stopping on the way to see a Roman archeology site of a large amphitheater. Little remains today except some stone columns and a large bowl shaped area in the ground. Continuing on, we returned to the hotel to notify them of our expected baggage delivery. We could now relax and finally explore a small part of the busy streets and shops surrounding Place du Capitole =Toulouse’s grandiose main square.
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On route back home we stopped at our favourite pub for a cool refreshment to finally celebrate our good fortune. Upon entering the hotel, we saw our bags waiting for us! We immediately began examining and organizing the bikes and panniers in preparation for our departure tomorrow. Everything looked fine except Scott`s helmet had taken a good knock and a supporting rail at the back was now broken off. It will still cover his head but as a safety device it is shot. It will need to be replaced.
It was dark outside by the time we finished and walked to a nearby Japanese restaurant for dinner. Pat had a chicken rice bowl and Scott the salmon one. They were both very good and just the easy to digest meal that we needed to prepare for tomorrow's departure to Montauban. For the first time ever we are heading off on untested bikes. They look good and everything seems right. Fingers are crossed.
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