Paddington Takes to the Road is the second part of the first episode of The Adventures of Paddington Bear.
Paddington speedily goes down a hill during the Tour de France.
Synopsis[]
Mr. Gruber and Paddington Bear are in St. Castille, a town in France, as Mr. Gruber is looking for interesting subjects for his book, The World and its Wonders. They are greeted by Mr. Dupont, who offers them fresh croissants. As Mr. Gruber and the baker enter, Paddington notices a poster that says "TOUR DE FRANCE" on it. Paddington, curious, looks this up and finds out that it is an annual bike race. However, he does not fully grasp its purpose, and when Mr. Gruber says that he and Paddington are going to take place in the Tour de France, Paddington thinks that they will actually compete in the race. He is unsure where to get a bike until he spots a tricycle on the roof of a car repair shop, so he gets the worker to get it down for him. However, the trike comes under the condition that Paddington oils it.
Later on, Paddington brings the trike to his hotel room and fixes it up. He finds a part laying around and is unsure where it goes, so he tosses it away and tests the trike out, smearing oil all over the room. That night, Paddington attempts to go to bed, but ends up leaving an oily paw print on the sheets. To prevent this, Paddington sleeps with his paws in the air.
When everybody wakes up the next morning, Paddington is nowhere to be found. Mr. Gruber is wondering where he is because the race is heading towards the town. Mr. Gruber turns on the TV and there Paddington is, racing in the Tour De France!
Paddington is almost in the lead when an opponent attempt to get him to slip up by spraying water at him. Paddington chooses this time to have a marmalade sandwich, but he runs over a pebble and drops the sandwich, landing in the opponent's chains and causing him to crash. The other racers end up crashing as well, leaving Paddington in the lead and down the hill. As Mr. Gruber and the maid head to the town square, Paddington tries to stop, but realizes that extra part was actually the brake lever, so he cannot stop. Paddington flies right past Mr. Gruber and into Mr. Dupont's bakery, where he crashes into a bag of flour. Now covered in flour, Paddington is unable to see and tumbles into a fountain. Mr. Gruber quickly rescues him and Paddington thinks he is in trouble again.
Back at Mr. Gruber's antique shop, Mr. Gruber tells Paddington that he is far from being in trouble, and shows him that his hotel room has now become a tourist attraction, and Mr. Dupont is getting more business. Paddington explains that he has some unusual souvenirs for his scrapbook, that being the bike tire and wishes that the tire would have stayed put.