Farine de ble Type 55

Hi all,

I need help please guys as I have been having a couple problems with the abovementioned Farine de ble Type 55 flour.  I procured it from the internet more specifically a shop based in London.  I am using this flour in Peter Reinhart`s French Bread 2 with Pate Fermentee recipe from Crust and Crumb.  In the notes it mentions Type 55 aka classic baguette flour being the best for this type of bread, so I got 10x1kg bags.  Imagine my disappointment when i mixed up the dough and even after 25 minutes of good kneading it simply did not come together.  Let me say that it was not over developed as i checked the doughs development regularly during the kneading cycle.  I am kneading by hand.  Tried again this evening and same problem despite my addition of some more flour about half a cup in an an attempt to bring it together.  So now am thinking perhaps i should substitute half the Type 55 with strong bread flour.  Wil this help?  Would like to ask you all for help as I dont want to waste any more flour, pre-ferment etc.  Would really appreciate any comments.  Cheers.

Paul