The Yellow Jersey....as the start of the 2009 Tour de France nears I thought I'd talk about the "Jerseys" that are awarded each day. "The most important one is the "yellow jersey" or sometimes referred to as the "mellow johnny", a mispronunciation of its French name given by Lance Armstrong, who wore it many times while winning the 1999-2005 races. The phrase has also been used as a nickname for Lance Armstrong. It is awarded each day based on the totalling of the time each rider takes on the daily stages. From or to this total can be added bonuses or penalties, for winning individual stages or being first to top a mountain [you receive bonuses] or for breaking the rules [you receive a penalty]. The rider with the lowest time receives a yellow shirt, and the right to start the next stage, usually the next day, of the Tour de France in the yellow jersey. The rider to receive the shirt after the last stage in Paris is the overall winner of the Tour!" For more information go to:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_jersey
Sunday, July 4th, 2004 Crossing the Border to France
We left about 9 am, the sun is shining, its a beautiful day for driving north through the mountain pass into France. One of the interesting things about spending 24/7 with another person is that you tend to discuss unusual things. Many mornings we will talk about our dreams from the previous night. This morning I mentioned that I had been dreaming about two real estate agents who had worked for us. Wow…Jim was also dreaming about two of our agents. We each had one agent in common with the other….stranger than fiction.
Arrived at Biarritz about 11 am and spent about an hour walking the beach and finding some postcards. We only saw half a dozen topless women on the beach; but, the beach was definitely crowded. Views are beautiful and the area looks very expensive! The sand is nicer than in Nice but still gravely, not smooth like we have in California. If and when we go stay on the beach; we have our rubber beach shoes on this trip! Lessons learned from previous trips when we tiptoed our way to the water on sharp little pebbles!
We took the short way north through Bordeaux, which means toll roads; we were anxious to return to St. Emillon; truly a treasure and a very expensive place to visit. It was fun to spend a night here on our way north reliving some memories of when we stayed in St. Emillon for four days in 2002. Walked the town and enjoyed seeing the ancient buildings again. We’re staying at a two star hotel this trip; a big change from the Parador Hotels in Spain and the first trip here when we splurged and stayed at the Hostellerie de Plaisance. But, it’s clean, has a bathroom, television and a fan! Shopped a bit, wine tasted along the way and then had a wonderful dinner in the outdoor café in the center of town. Since we were saving money on the hotel, Jim had duck with mushrooms for dinner!
When we arrived this afternoon our first activity was to figure out the television controls to see today’s Tour de France race and also the Formula One race in France. Lance is doing well. We plan to see the race go by on the 8th as we are driving north. We will be bisecting the tour route and will arrange to see them even if it means waiting a few hours. The first time that we’ll see more of the race will be in Dinan around the 10th. From that point on it will be a daily event to see the race until it is over in Paris on July 25th.
Tonight we watch the European Soccer Championship game in Portugal between Portugal and Greece; should be very exciting.
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