24/11/2023
There is always 1 bad day per trip and yesterday was that day. Hopefully the only 1!!
Slept overnight in a lovely farm 45 minutes from Toulouse, then headed towards a parking just outside Toulouse to take the metro into town.
As always no entry for cars over 1.90. 😭. No idea where I am supposed to park? Drove further on to a secondary parking and found I could catch the bus from here. Bitterly cold I waited at the bus stop but decided to change my mind.
Back at the car I saw something in the tyre, big mistake I decided to remove it.
A huge bolt that punctured the tyre. Oops down it went. Tried to fix it with my tyre repair kit but no luck.
No body around, then luckily I spotted 2 guys in the next parking in a land rover discovery, maybe they can help. Walked over to them and they too had a blown tyre but no jack, so I asked if they could help me then I would lend them my jack.
Luckily they said ok, but we are waiting for a tow truck. 1 of them was spaced out but luckily the other guy was OK.
3 tries, and a phone call to my friend in South Africa we managed to jack the car high enough. Between the 2 of us it took over 2 hours but finally it was done, just in time as then their tow truck arrived.
I drove to a tyre repair shop, waited almost 2 hours to get the tyre fixed and changed again. Absolutely shattered I found a place to stay for the night and crashed out.
Dissappointed that from the few people who passed my way not 1 of them asked if I needed help. This is not Africa!!
Lesson learnt, never pull a bolt out if your tyre. And there is no way I could have done this alone. No more punctures please.