With the bike packed in its box, all I have to do is wait for the moment to leave.
The plane leaves very early in the morning, so it’s not worth getting a room. I plan to get to the airport just before midnight.
I have the whole of Sunday to wait and I wander around the streets of old Tbilisi that I hadn’t seen before.
The taxi arrived earlier than I’d expected, but although I’d paid more because I had a large parcel (the bike), the driver obviously hadn’t expected anything that big. The box barely fits in the boot and it’s sticking out of the boot, which remains open. I’ll use my scotch tape to try and close it. I’m a bit annoyed because the hotel got 15 Lari back for no extra service.
Turkish Airlines opens check-in quite early so I can check in and drop off my bike without queuing. The night passed fairly quickly because I then went to passport control and it was very crowded. In the end it goes fairly quickly, but it’s better not to be too close to take-off. At passport control the officers made the people who were just in front of me wait on the side, I won’t know why.
At last it’s time to board. Suddenly I hear my name being called. I go to see a stewardess who sends me to a security officer : they want to check my bags. I walk down with the officer to an office where my bags are waiting. It takes me a moment to realise that what they’re worried about is a spare chain I bought in Istanbul, which I didn’t change after all. It’s like a lump of metal in a pannier. I had taken the trouble to wrap my bags in plastic film, and the policeman who opened the film wouldn’t put it back. He seemed a bit disappointed to have such a meagre haul...

In the end I was the last to board the plane.
On the plane just before arriving in Istanbul, they indicated the gate where I was to board my connecting flight. I run a bit because there’s a bit of a bogus baggage check, bogus because you don’t take out your electronic devices and they’re pretty smooth, but it wastes a bit of time all the same... I check the door... I reread twice the door indicated now is the opposite of the one indicated on the plane !
I arrived in Toulouse and found my bike and panniers without any problems. I put the bike back together at the airport exit and cycled home.

Some changes for next time

Bike  :
Front wheel spokes were loose. Maybe it was the hellish road on the way to Çanakkale that caused a lot of vibrations....
A single puncture at the start when the front tyre was completely worn out, I’d forgotten to change it before the start. It held up right to the end.
Before a tunnel I had to repair the rear light, the loose wire had been snagged.
Buying a spare chain in Istanbul didn’t help in the end.
The brakes : I just tightened the cable and they’re still holding. But I’ll have to change them soon ! I’ll take the opportunity to change the hoses that I didn’t have time to change before leaving.

Hardware
I forgot a few things that I had to buy again : micro-usb charger, nail clippers...
I’d noted that my PC was still doing the job, but that I’d have to change it... the screen broke, so it was urgent ! I bought one when I arrived and I’ll take the time to repair the old one (which means changing the screen as well as the keyboard, which has been failing for a long time).

I’ll also have to replace the meter I lost in Antalya. I’m thinking that a connected watch wouldn’t be bad, but reading the reviews I’m having trouble finding a model that would suit my needs (accurate GPS, altimeter, slopes... cardio) while still having enough battery life. From what I’ve also read, the watches have an in-house charger... not usb-c, which means you have to lug around an extra cable. In short, I’m going to think about it - there’s no rush.

Water  :
I didn’t understand what the problem was with water in Turkey.
Apparently they are able to produce drinking water. Apparently the situation is also deteriorating, with industrialists in particular sending their waste water directly into rivers.
But when people offered me water, I didn’t ask if it was filtered and I trusted them : if people drink and don’t get sick, why should I ?

Next destination

That’s a long way off... but I’m very tempted by Uzbekistan.