An elderly French couple had been making their way towards their car when they were startled by the noise. Out of the corner of my eye I saw both of them make a small jump. All I could do was look apologetic and say, “Pardon.” They came towards us and asked us to explain what had happened. We told them about the damaged tire and that now we did not even have a spare tube. They informed us that the nearest place to buy a new tire and tube was about half an hour’s drive away. We must have looked very downcast for they quickly added that there was no problem. They just happened to have a large station wagon, if we lowered the rear gate there would be room for the tandem and they would drive us to the shop. They also introduced themselves; they were Françoise and Didier.
After we had got to the shop and I had purchased what we needed, I went back to the car to thank our new friends and take the tandem out of the car. They protested, “Leave the tandem in the car.” They had been out in the woods collecting mushrooms. Would we not come to their home and help them eat the mushrooms. It was our turn to protest; they had already been too kind. But no, they insisted. It would be their pleasure to share their supper with us. We accepted and had an excellent meal with them. However French meals are leisurely and by the time we had finished it was starting to get dark. We apologized for leaving so soon but we wanted to find a hotel before dark. But they had a spare room, please stay for the night. It was beginning to become embarrassing but we accepted. The next morning they gave us a small breakfast and after many a “Merci” and “Vous avez été trop gentils,” we set off.
As we were leaving Bayeux the tire exploded again. There was a supermarket nearby and, wonder of wonders it sold bike supplies (Vive la France!). I had learned my lesson and this time I bought two tubes and two tires. It was a good thing I had done so since the tire and tube exploded again before we reached Brittany. In Brittany we met some Canadian friends who had brought their tandems and would be joining us for the last leg of our trip. These friends differed from me in that they understood bicycles. I had barely begun the story of the exploding tire when one of them asked, “Is your wheel in true?” “Huh, what?” He explained that when a wheel was “out of true,” it was because some spokes were not tight enough or were too tight. This caused the rim to bend a bit so that it was not completely straight. This in turn caused the sidewall of the tire to continually stretch until it had been weakened so much that it gave way. Our friend not only had knowledge, he also had tools for putting a wheel back “in to true,” which he promptly did. We continued on to Nantes and there were no more tire incidents.
It is a shame that I did not understand the importance of fixing a wheel that was “out of true.” But if I had, we would never have met Françoise and Didier and enjoyed their outstanding kindness. But what I really regret is the earlier passing of our friend in Dijon. If only he had lived I would have had an excellent story to prove that the French can be a very kind people. If I have the good fortune to make it to Heaven, I will tell him there, but of course he probably already knows.
Arromanches-les-Bains, Normandie, France
