NICE AND THE TOPLESS BEACHES.....

Saturday, July 31st, 2004 Nice, France

After sending our journal yesterday, we went out for our final walk around L’Isle sur la Sorgue. Watched the locals playing in the water throughout the city. Spent some time at the boating club observing members challenging each other in the flat boats and sat for a while listening to singers doing short routines for mike checks for the concert tonight in the town square.

This morning we were up at the crack of dawn and ready to leave by the time we had breakfast at 7:15 am. The newspapers and television news shows were full of reports of major traffic for the Autoroutes towards the south as people started out on their traditional August vacations this weekend. When we stopped at the rest area after the first hour it was full of people still sleeping in their cars. Traffic was heavy but not impossible.

When we opened the instruction book from the car agency to verify the procedure for returning the car this morning at the Nice Airport we discovered that we were suppose to have made a reservation four days ago. Opps…guess we’ll stop by on the way in to Nice to see how we can overcome this slight problem. The plan had been to drive to the hotel; drop the luggage and then go to the airport. (When we leave from Nice we will be using the train for the Italy portion of our trip). Airport traffic was bumper to bumper. Accidentally got into the “Kiss and Leave” (that’s exactly what the sign said) and that took even more time. Finally parked; went inside to the return counter and Jim worked his magic charm. Never mentioned that we didn’t have an appointment; requested the gate code (that we were supposed to have received when we got our appointment four days earlier) and when the guy couldn’t find our name in the appointment book; Jim said we’d be back in a hour as we needed to take our luggage to the hotel in Nice prior to leaving the car. Worked perfect! The clerk slotted us in for the noon appointment.

By noon the luggage was at the hotel, the car had been returned to Peugeot and we were on the bus back to Nice. After getting checked in to the hotel and a short nap; we put on our swimsuits and headed for the beach with our bamboo mats and beach shoes. The beaches here are rocks…shoes are very important! Advantage is that you don’t have sand sticking all over you; disadvantage is that the rocks can be rather firm! But we enjoyed our hour in the sun (that was about all we could take) and even the novelty of the topless ladies all around us soon wore off.

Back to the hotel, we’re about four blocks from the beach; rested up a bit before dressing and then headed for the local Catholic Notre Dame Cathedral for Saturday evening Mass at 5:15 pm. From there we walked another mile and visited the Russian Orthodox Cathedral; very ornate and beautiful inside and out with extensive use of gold leafing plus onion shaped turrets. They were in the process of chanting their Vesper Service while we were there. Checked the train station on the way home and then had a wonderful dinner at our favorite restaurant from the 2002 trip. Walked to the promenade along the beach by way of the old center and enjoyed an evenings’ stroll for about six blocks. The English tourist who didn’t like walking on the rocky beach to enjoy the view built the first promenade; it was built of marble. Today it’s concrete and asphalt. Swimmers still dotted the beach and ocean; bicycle riders, skate boarders and roller blade pros were streaming down the bicycle section as other just strolled along as we were; enjoying the sights and sounds of an evening in Nice. We had street musicians entertaining us; a magnificent evening sky and a mixture of language sounds surrounding us as we enjoyed our evening walk before heading back to the hotel.

2004 HEADING FROM PARIS TO PROVENCE

Tuesday, July 27^th, 2004 Heading for Provence

We enjoyed our crepe dinner in Paris last night as we sat outside under the awning watching the rain that started just after we arrived at the café. Purchased beer to enjoy with the crepes; it also allowed us to sit at the tables. The café is separate from the crepe maker even though they are in the same building. By the time we’d finished our crepes the rain had stopped and we walked back to the hotel under the dripping trees and enjoyed the fresh air! Band of Brothers was on the television as it was Monday night again.

On the road by 9 am; it only took us about fifteen minutes to be out of Paris. That’s definitely a record! It helped that we were only a short distance from the Peripherique by way of Port d’Orleans; then only a thousand meters on the Peripherique (thank goodness as it was bumper to bumper) and we turned south on the A6. The southbound traffic was a breeze; pity the poor souls headed into Paris in the stop and go traffic running opposite our wide-open route. For those who have asked about the cost of the toll roads; it was 439 kilometers (about 270 miles) to Lyon, took us about four hours and cost 23.50 Euros to use the Autoroute (toll road).

On the way down we enjoyed a beautiful day with lots of sunshine. Our girls were waiting for us with their faces uplifted to the sunshine. Enjoyed the Chateaus that dot the hillside and the castles ruins on the hilltops. The fields were full of sunflowers, corn, wheat, hay and herds Charolais cattle (the white ones). They are harvesting the hay right now. Farmers use the method of rolling the hay into huge round bales that remind me of rolling snow for a snowman in the wintertime. Right now, round bales of hay are lying all over the fields waiting to be picked up for storage.

Just outside of Beaune we passed the Chateau Chateauneuf where we’ve enjoyed several delicious meals and I remembered our stay on the “Lady A” (a canal boat that is permanently moored on the Burgundy Canal that flows through the valley) next to Autoroute that we were driving on. We stayed there for four nights in November of 2000 for our first visit to Beaune. There was another American couple also staying on the boat and we shared the drama of the trying days of the Presidential Election and the “chad” issues. The boat owners were constantly changing the television channels and/or ignoring our request to watch the news on CNN. We’re looking forward to being home for this election and also a smoother flow of voting results.

Stopped in Beaune to pick up my vitamin pillboxes that I’d left last week. Purchased gasoline at the local supermarket (1.04 Euros per liter compared to 1.15 on the autoroute) before heading south towards Lyon. We visited Lyon during our trip in 1992 and so decided to make our overnight stop in Vienne, about thirty kilometers south of Lyon. We had decided that to drive from Paris to Provence was just too long for one day.

Vienne is a beautiful town located along the Rhone River and offered extensive Roman Ruins to explore. As soon as we were checked in we headed over to the Gare (the train station) to see about purchasing the first of our seat reservations for our journey into Italy in August. I had purchased our Eurorail Pass for Italy prior to leaving home. I had also very carefully researched the train schedules on the Internet and made a list of the train numbers, etc. that we needed seat reservations for because of time schedules, etc. We also needed a ticket for the first day from Nice across the French border, as our Europass is only good for Italy. The stationmaster was great. Very patience, spoke no English, and spent nearly half an hour with us attempting to fulfill our request. Finally, he suggested that we get the last part of our reservations after we arrive in Italy as he was having trouble getting the hours that we wanted. But we did manage to get the tickets from Nice to the border, the reservations for seats to Genoa, then for the trip to Rome and also for the trip to Naples. He was so good we surprised him with a tip before we left. He was shocked to say the least!

Spent the balance of the afternoon exploring all the Roman Ruins scattered throughout the old center of town. Everything is walking distance from our hotel; an Ibis Hotel with central air, television, elevators, internet access…wow….and only a two star. One thing that we’ve learned is that when you need change, go to the Post Office. Banks post signs in their windows that say “No Change”. The Post Offices have a special machine for obtaining change; handy for parking meters and Laundromats. Yes, that is coming up before we get on the train so we made a visit and got prepared early.

Wednesday, July 28^th: Back on the Autoroute; known in France as the Autoroute Du Soleil (route to the sun) as it goes from Paris to the south of France. Only used it for a short distance and then headed for the side roads to find a small town that one of my books (novels) written with French themes mentioned. The town is Seguret on D23 southwest of Vaison-la-Romain. A very old, small village located on the side of the hill. We walked from the bottom to the top and back to the car. Many of the shops were selling Christmas Nativity Scenes. Seems like a community theme as there were many different shops selling the Nativity Sets. The surrounding hills were covered with vineyards. We’re really in the center of wine production and nearly every Vintner has a wine tasting shop for the public. In France they sometimes call them Caves. So far we’ve managed to keep driving without testing the vintages. But, we sure have developed a taste for Pastis; decided to shop for another bottle today.

Weather is getting warmer. We had ninety-four degree weather when we arrived in L’Isle sur la Sorgue at 1 pm this afternoon. We’re here for three nights. Wonderful village known for its’ Market Days on Thursday and Sunday. The one on Sunday is most famous for it’s Antiques. We will miss that one as we leave Saturday morning. If you’ve not been here, there is a delightful stream that flows through the town. It’s fast moving with crystal water from underground springs. They race very thin boats that are only able to go under the bridges because the pole man lies flat in the boat as they scoot under the bridges. We had dinner tonight outside on the edge of the river. I kept looking for the twelve-inch fish that we saw during the afternoon. I have not seen any fish other than that one! We think they must release him once a day to entertain the tourists.

Our hotel is quiet, has all the amenities and is reasonable. It is also only two blocks from the center of the village and is called the Hotel Les Nevons. We spent a good part of the day today repacking our luggage for next week after doing the laundry. When we leave here we will be dropping the car off when we arrive in Nice. We’re mailing another box home and leaving a goodwill package here in the hotel room for the maids of things we decided to just leave. Amazing how luggage grows and grows and grows…..

We’ve been watching the Boston Democratic Convention today; so nice to have CNN and be able to catch up on the news. Until now the French TV station had a reporter in Boston covering the convention so we have been getting the news story; but only in French.

Thursday, July 29^th: Slept in a bit and then headed for the Thursday Market. Had lots of fun; hard to not purchase sooo many things but then the “baggage issue” rears it’s ugly head! But we did find a couple of unusual small things to purchase. The food is what is so much fun. The wide variety of cheeses, olives, spices, vegetables, meats (cooked and raw), fresh fish including the head of a swordfish, bolts of material, flowers (fresh and dried) you name it; it was here. We found a clever little dish that grates food very easily and Jim purchased a small package of ground up spices. We’re going to find a pottery shop in Orange County when we get back to the USA that has the Provence style pottery; we’ve said this before, but this time we WILL actually do it when we get home! One dish that I really liked was made for olives; about six inches round with an attached small bowl for pits and a smaller one for toothpicks. Surely someone in America has made one of these! Lots of dogs, bicycles and baskets created a special flavor and the interesting places they find to park their cars while they shopped was a constant surprise. They’re so small the French seem to be able to park them on the proverbial dime.

Finally left the market, picked up our car and headed for the large supermarket on the edge of town. Needed to purchase tape and string for our last package. When we took it to the post office we were pleasantly surprised when she said we didn’t have to pay any postage. Seems as though when we purchased the box at the post office last week; the postage was included in the price of the box as long as we didn’t exceed a certain weight! That makes the first five boxes a bit cheaper than we’d thought. Hummm….maybe another box in the near future?? We’re keeping the extra tape and string just in case we decide to send more home.

Decided to drive to the Fountain of Vaucluse. We’d been there in 2000 but wanted to see everything in bloom. Beautiful and quaint, not very changed. Decided to walk about a mile each way to see the actual “source” of the water for all the crystal clear streams that run throughout the region. We were amazed when we arrived and found the pool to be extremely low due to the lack of rain for the past few years. It was at least twenty feet below the level in 2000. I guess California is not the only area affected by drought these days. We purchased a book and found that these conditions have occurred regularly over the centuries.

During the afternoon the children learning how to maneuver a kayak in the river entertained us as we walked along the river. A teenager seemed to be in charge; each of the kids wore a life jacket. He was working with a group of ten. He had them going up and down over small rapids created in the river; great place to safely learn the techniques. Other teenagers were busy jumping and diving into the water from a bridge; each trying to be more daring than his friends. Everyone in the water wears shoes we noticed; lots of rocks and unfortunately trash litters the bottom. All along the river there are concrete steps that allow people to sit with their feet in the cool water. Shoppers, both old and young, sit next to their bags for a break in their day with their feet dangling in the cool water. And so another warm day closes. It’s much cooler in the evening but hits the nineties during the day. The shade is comfortable but walking in the sun is guaranteed to burn your skin!

Friday, July 30^th: This is our last day before heading for Nice. We decided to go south and find the town of Ansouis located just north of Pertius. A couple of years ago we both read “The Magic of Provence”, a book by Yvone Lenard. She had restored a home below a castle in a hill town and wrote a book about the village of Ansouis and her experiences.

Found the town perched on a hillside with the castle at the top just as she described. Parked near the café and walked up to the castle as we knew her home backed up to the base of the castle. We discovered a beautiful home that Jim was sure belonged the author; we also found the Tourist Information that was actually built into the back of the home. We were fortunate to find a delightful young French girl who spoke extremely good English in the Tourist Information Shop who confirmed that we were correct about the house. We were the only customers and she spent about twenty minutes with us. The castle is only open in the afternoon, it was now only 11 am, but she offered to ring up the author as she is now in residence and does not mind meeting people who ask about her. We elected not to bother her but asked many questions of the clerk. She has a new book out called “Love in Provence”…Jim is sure we’ve read it but I don’t remember reading that one. Will check when we return home. Asked her why the first book was not translated into French and she replied that the editor would not cooperate as French people don’t like to read books by Americans about their French experiences…or something like that. There was a German translation in the shop for sale as well as the English version. We also saw a selection of wines from Forbin de Janson. Of course Jim couldn’t resist asking about that one and again, she provided us with lots of information regarding the town where the wine is grown.

When we left Ansouis we had a new quest; we were on the road to find Forbin de Janson. Finally found the town known as St’ Egreve Janson after touring several cornfields. Nothing much, lots of new houses; but no winery with the name of Forbin de Janson was visible in the areas that we searched. We did find a street by that name and drove to the end of it without success. Headed back to our hotel for a late lunch and siesta time.

It’s been fun being back in Provence again. Tomorrow morning we head south to Nice and turn the car in at the airport. We have three nights in Nice and then take the train into Italy. I will miss the ease of using the internet in France. Last time we were in Nice at the same hotel I had trouble signing on and finally had to use my computer from the manager’s office. Do hope they’ve corrected that problem. So for now it’s adieu, farewell and au revoir until next time.

OUR DAY IN PARIS

Monday, July 26^th, 2004 Paris

Left the hotel about 10 am this morning and started walking towards Notre Dame. First we walked through the Luxembourg Garden, a very large park. The flowers are beautiful here in the gardens. Most European cities have hanging baskets on their lampposts during the summer months. Paris only has trees and the flowers are in the parks and up on window ledges. From there we walked through the University District and over to the Seine River where we followed the river down towards Notre Dame. Lines were long so we kept walking to enjoy the gardens between the Cathedral and the river. On the bridge leading to St Louis en I’le there was a violin player earning his living. Verified that all of our old hotels were still there and then proceeded through the crowds of people to walk towards the Quai on the north side of St Louis en I’le where they have created the Paris la Plage (beach).

The beach only exists from July 21^st to August 20^th. There are hammocks, beach chairs, many small boule courts (in Italy it’s bocchi ball), small swimming pool, rest rooms, first aid and very strict rules posted in many different languages. Some areas have sand but most are just cobblestone. It’s quite a novelty item and is making the news regularly here in Europe. There is no charge for using the chairs, etc. First come rights. Today was so cool that there were not too many people using the beach area! By the way, two of the rules are that you may not go topless nor swim in the Seine River!

After visiting the beach it was about 1 pm and time to use the Metro for a return trip to the hotel after our three-hour walk. Arriving in the lower echelons of the Metro we found a small band composed of Slavic musicians playing their instruments. It’s always so much fun to stop and listen to the various forms of music one finds in the Metro system and sometimes even in the cars as they move from station to station. This group was especially good and it was hard to continue on our trip home rather than to stay and enjoy the music.

From the hotel we headed to the local movie theater and enjoyed a V.O. (version originale ie: English with French subtitles) Spiderman II that has just been released here in Europe. The subtitles are distracting but it was fun to watch a movie. Walking home a different way we found an Alimentary Store (a small neighborhood grocery store) and picked up drinks and snacks. Tonight we’re headed back to the same area to have jambon, champignon and fromage crepes at a small restaurant in Montparnasse that was frequented by Hemingway when he lived in this area before World War II.

Tomorrow we head south for a week in Provence and Nice before heading into Italy. Again, have not a clue as to whether or not I will have Internet access; but must admit I’ve been pretty lucky. So for now we bid you farewall….

Next Blog will be on July 30^th, 2009

PARIS 2009 TOUR DE FRANCE WINNERS!

Stage 20 of the 2009 Tour de France begins in Montereau-Fault-Yonne, where the Seine River merges with the Yonne River. The city is east of Fontainebleau. The riders will head north about 40 km before turning west towards Paris and the Champs-Élysées. Today they will ride 101.9 miles, but much of it in the streets of Paris.

The final Stage of the 2009 Tour de France was very predictable with no mountains and only 2 sprints….Mark Cavendish didn’t take the Green Jersey but took the final sprint for his 6^th Stage Victory as he crossed the finish line first!

The leaders final times were only slightly different from the end of yesterday’s stage with Alberto Contador winning his second Tour de France! We were thrilled to see Lance Armstrong on the podium in third position…using a popular phase “not bad for an old fart”!

As Chris Brewer wrote on the Livestrong Website:

It's a parade like atmosphere as they approach casually from the southeast, champagne toasts being made on the bike and many a staged photo taken with the race leaders and their teams. That all ends in earnest, though, soon after the race leader's team ceremoniously leads the peloton across the finish line for the first of eight laps around the famous Champs Elysees. As the race heads down to the Arch de Triumph and back again to the Place de la Concorde the speed gets faster with every circuit. Tens of thousands of fans line the route, with attack and counter attack being played out again and again. Winning a stage is important, but winning the final stage of the Tour is very prestigious, too.

And so, once the sprinters have had their day the true victors of the Tour de France will be crowned midway down the Champs. Each team will also get their time in the sun as they take a victory lap acknowledging their amazing effort. After three weeks of racing it's hard to believe it's all over, but it won't be long I assure you before the speculation and planning for the 2010 edition is back in full swing. But for now, it's all about finding where your family and friends are, and where is the team party tonight?!

The WINNERS of the 96^th Edition of the Tour de France are:

#1: Alberto Contador

#2: Andy Schleck +4:11

#3: Lance Armstrong +5:24

#4: Bradley Wiggins +6.01

#5: Frank Schleck +6.04

Our Jerseys were awarded to:

Top Team Overall: Astana

Maillot Jaune: Alberto Contador

Maillot Vert: Thor Hushovd

Maillot a Pois Rouges: Franco Pellizotti

Maillot Blanc: Andy Schleck

And for the final chapter on the 2004 Tour de France, here is the story of that eventful day on Sunday, July 25^th, 2004, in the City of Paris……

Sunday, July 25^th, 2004 Paris

The final day of the Tour de France. Took the Metro over to the Place de la Concorde about 10 am with plans to possible see the Museum L’Orangerie and then walk down the Champs-Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe to get a feel for the course that they would ride between four and five o’clock this afternoon. Whoops…we came up from the Metro and found a zoo of police and people. The streets were already blocked off. We had difficulty getting anywhere even though we were walking! We walked over to the L’Orangerie and found that they have closed it again for remodeling! We then walked for about a mile before we could get near the course. Found a great place with seats on a stonewall with several other Americans. After half an hour, the police came and moved us out…the area was to be kept cleared of people! Later, on television, we saw our wall during the race and it was void of people! Made us feel a little better; Jim had been sure that other people would eventually get those seats.

So we continued to walk and try to get closer to the course. Finally managed to find a street that they would allow us to cross and we made it over to the Champs-Elysees. By that time all the rails were taken but we found a great curb with a lamppost to lean again with a wonderful view of a television screen that was at least forty feet square. We were now very near the Petit Palace. It was now about noon and the caravan was due about three with the riders arriving in Paris about four in the afternoon. Once inside the city they will make ten loops up and down the Champs-Elysees between the Place de la Concorde and the Arc de Triomphe. We had another interesting group of Americans around us and one Scotsman. The young couple was from San Diego, here for ten days only. An older couple from Michigan has been working in Paris for nearly four years; they are scheduled to go home in September. So, we were an interesting group exchanging information! When you spend several hours standing on a corner you get to know each other. Never exchanged names but learned all kinds of facts about their lives in general.

Jim saw some people with Postal Team on their shirts so he went to ask about the “party”; they didn’t know about any party but since he had a Livestrong yellow bracelet they gave him a small yellow shirt pin that said Postal to put on his Tour de France hat. They also told him where he could get more bracelets if he wanted them. I asked him to see if he could get more pins so he set off to find the booth. He didn’t get any more pins but did come back with a French Hot Dog. They put a French roll on a heated rod that creates a perfect space for the hot dog. They put the condiments in the bun then they insert the hot dog….volla…a non- dripping hot dog!

By the time the riders arrived in Paris the street between our curb and the television screen was packed solid with people. We were amazed at how many step stools and small ladders that we saw. People would climb up the light poles and then the police would allow them a few minutes and make them come down. A real mass of humanity with one common goal…to see Lance Armstrong become the first to win the Tour de France for the sixth time.

The television played short versions of all the stages of the race and also kept us up to date with the progress of today’s ride into Paris. The riders were very relaxed today and did lots of interviews as they road 110 kilometers (about 70 miles) towards Paris. Once the group enters the city limits the sprinters start breaking away to improve their individual times. They do another 53 kilometers inside the city limits including the ten laps on the Champs-Elysees. When they arrived Jim went over and elbowed his way close enough to the street to film the riders. We watched them make two loops and then headed back to the Metro and the hotel to watch the finish in our room. It’d been a long and very hot day; had not seen a restroom for seven hours; the only shade we had had been from our umbrellas. But a great experience and well worth the inconvenience.

Rested up after the race and then walked over to the Paris skyscraper for a city view. Fifty-nine stories high, you have a wonderful three hundred sixty degree view of the entire city from the top. You have a twenty-five mile view per the brochure. The roof also doubles for a helicopter pad. The one view you don’t have is of the Seine River as it sits down too low below the buildings. But a much better view than from the Eiffel Tower. Another end to a memory filled day. We celebrated the end of the Tour by drinking the last of our Pastis!

On Tuesday, July 28^th, 2009, I will continue our 2004 Journal as we spend another day in Paris and then head south into Provence, then Nice and on into Italy. We end our adventure with a couple of days in London before arriving in the USA on August 19^th. Hope you stayed tuned….

MONT VENTOUX 2009 & OUR STORY OF 2002

Stage 20 of the 2009 Tour de France begins in the city of Montelimar, about half way between Valence and Avignon. The riders will head southeast and then circle back to the northwest after mile 70 in a long loop for the approach to Mont Ventoux for a total of “make or break” 103.8 miles. This is the first time a difficult mountain stage has been planned for the day before the final ride into Paris.

An early break away of 16 riders, including Tony Martin, set a fast pace and soon they were eight and half minutes ahead of the Peleton. The weather is beautiful for today’s ride, only a forest fire near the route caused concern because of the smoke that could affect the riders and also the fire equipment using the same roads as the race.

As we neared the base of Mont Ventoux the Peleton began closing the gap to the break away group as the top riders began dancing on their pedals. The last time the Tour de France climbed this mountain was in 2002, and we were there…our story follows today report for your enjoyment.

At 27 km Team Astana, all 8 riders, broke the Peleton apart to begin the attack on the mountain as the winds changed from a tail wind to a cross wind! All of the leaders made the break with Astana with the exception of last year’s Tour winner, Carlos Sastre. The split is only about 5 minutes at the base, giving the new break away the advantage and they will soon pass the initial group as Astana, Saxo Bank and Garmin-Slipstream teams rotate the lead up Mont Ventoux; a grueling hour’s ride. Slowly, one by one, the workhorses dropped off after completing their share of the load of leading the top riders up Mont Ventoux; closing the gap to the original break away. There are nearly half million people on the mountain to watch the riders make this famous stage…many, like we did, walked the final miles to the top to be there for the finish.

An exciting finish with Juan Manuel Garate of Spain taking the Stage with Tony Martin coming in a close second. The third group in was lead by Alberto Contador with Andy Schleck on his heels. Lance Armstrong also finished in the lead group following Alberto who today proved to be a great leader and a great teammate!

The leaders are:

#1: Alberto Contador

#2: Andy Schleck +4:11

#3: Lance Armstrong +5:25

#4: Bradley Wiggins +5:36

#5: Frank Schleck +5:59

Our Jerseys were awarded today to:

Top Team Overall: Astana

Maillot Jaune: Alberto Contador

Maillot Vert: Thor Hushovd

Maillot a Pois Rouges: Franco Pellizotti

Maillot Blanc: Andy Schleck

I thought that I’d pull the journal from our trip in 2002 when we followed parts of the 2002 Tour De France during our three months in Europe. Our story started on July 8^th in Paris and we caught up with the 2002 Tour de France in Vannes on July 13^th. We continued to catch stages as we traveled through France and arrived for the Mont Ventoux stage on July 20^th.

2002 was the last time that the Tour de France has raced up Mont Ventoux.

Sunday, July 21^st, 2002, was the climb up Mont Ventoux on the 14^th Stage of the 2002 Tour de France; this was the Stage that Jim wanted to see more than any of the others! This stage is legendary as the scene for one of the most grueling climbs in the Tour de France bicycle races. It stands alone and is visible from nearly all of Provence, and the minstrel wind sweep down off of its barren slopes.

They were closing the roads early so we left by 9 am and managed to get up the back side of the mountain to a parking space along the road that was ONLY 7 km about 5 miles from the finish line at the top of the mountain. The hike up actually wasn't too bad as we had shade most of the way. Most of the road was only about a 5% grade with a few tougher spots. We had an American from Philadelphia ask us if we had band aids when he heard us speak English. He was totally unprepared as he'd come from some business meetings in Belgium and thought that this would be a good way to spend the weekend. I have been carrying a roll of adhesive tape in my purse for blisters so he was very grateful. Saw him several times during the day and he said it worked wonderfully on his dual blisters. We also shared our sunscreen with some girls from Texas.

The weather was great....very hot, about 85 degrees but the winds kept us cool. We used lots of sunscreen as there is absolutely no vegetation at the top. You can see this mountain from miles around and it looks like year round snow as it is totally white due to the limestone rock summit. The race came here in 2000 and the wind was so bad that everyone froze in July. But we never put our jackets on today even though we did bring them along because of the possibility of a weather change!

Arrived at the top about noon (a two hour walk) and found the portable toilettes which were already nearing their max. We then located a good spot on the hill above the road which was at the 200 meter mark for the finish. We could also see a good piece down the road. We found some flat stones about eight inches square for seats and moved the surrounding rocks so that the points were down. This was our "stadium" seats for the next five hours. I did bring an umbrella that gave us some shade as we passed the time people watching and reading. We put our American Flag out in front of us...I think the helicopter filming crew got it several times. Also, people would stop to chat knowing that we were also Americans.

The caravan came through about 4 pm and the riders arrived at 5:30 pm. Lance was 2 minutes behind the leader in third position. It was a very exciting finish. A Frenchman won and you can just imagine the excitement in the crowd. Lance is still in first place overall, but he would have loved to win this mountain also! We headed back down the mountain as fast as we could and I managed to stumble...only a bruised knee and some embarrassment.

I was so tired and Jim was also, that we drove straight home, showered and went to bed after our five mile walk back down the mountain to our car. Plus navigating all of the traffic as people headed out for the next spot on the Tour; the same town that we were staying near.

We continued to follow the 2002 Tour De France for a few more stages but none so thrilling as today’s stage on Mont Ventoux. After a day of rest, the riders started from Vaison La Romaine, the town where we have been staying, so we witnessed the beginning of Stage 15. We followed the race into Chamonix before heading south towards Nice and into Italy to continue our three month tour of Europe; catching the race on television until it arrived in Paris less than a week later. Hope that you’ve enjoyed our little story of our adventure on Mont Ventoux in 2002.

STAGE 19 OF 2009

Stage 19 of the 2009 Tour de France begins at Bourgoin-Jallieu located near the heart of the Rhone-Alpes Region and flows 110.6 miles to Aubenas; a town that sits on the edge of a rocky ridge overlooking the Ardeche Valley.

I’m publishing this Blog a day early as we are traveling for two weeks and I will be without an Internet on Friday Morning ….I’ll add the story and awards lists as soon as possible. LATE BUT HERE ARE THE NUMBERS FOR TODAY:

Mark Cavendish and Thor Hushovd took advantage of the course today and beat all of the top ten to the finish line except for Lance Armstrong who increased his advantage over the others by having the same time as Cavendish who took his 5th Stage Victory today. Tomorrow is Mont Ventoux...another MOUNTAIN day!

The leaders are:

#1: Alberto Contador

#2: Andy Schleck +4:11

#3: Lance Armstrong +5:21 (4 seconds less than yesterday)

#4: Bradley Wiggins +5:36

#5: Andreas Kloden +5:38

Our Jerseys were awarded today to:

Top Team Overall: Astana

Maillot Jaune: Alberto Contador

Maillot Vert: Thor Hushovd

Maillot a Pois Rouges: Franco Pellizotti

Maillot Blanc: Andy Schleck

Our 2004 Journal continues without a slideshow as we elect to head into Paris and beat the traffic for tomorrow’s Final Stage of the 2004 Tour de France….

Saturday, July 24^th, 2004 On the road to Paris

On the road early, we decided to skip the time trails at Besancon and beat the traffic into Paris on the A6 Tollway. Had light rain off and on most of the way to Paris. At a roadside stop half way to Paris we found the “fishing” jacket that Jim has been looking for; he wanted something with lots of pockets but sleeveless. They are great for traveling. We also made a stop to drive through part of the Fountainbleau Forest and the village of Barbizon, the birthplace of “plein aire” and ultimately Impressionism, just south of Paris.

Arrived about 1 pm and found our hotel fairly easily; having a detailed map of Paris from a previous trip helped. We are staying in a district that is new to us; Montparnasse. It has the fifty-nine story skyscraper and also a very large cemetery. Jim decided on the hotel because it was featured in a recent movie with Matt Damon called “Bourne Identity”. The name of the hotel is “Hotel de la Paix”; a very nice hotel that has all the amenities except air conditioning. But, no bugs to speak of so we’ve left the windows open. We’re on the fourth floor, but there’s an elevator; our room is located on the backside so it’s quiet. Spent the afternoon watching the Tour de France on television and then walked over to the neighborhood Cathedral for a beautiful Mass celebrated by three priests. After Mass we walked to Chez Clement’s for a delicious dinner to celebrate being back in Paris again.

We enjoyed walking the streets of Paris. The streets are lined with trees and life has a special quality that you can feel as you walk the broad sidewalks lined with outdoor tables at the cafes and individual shops for every imaginable thing that you can purchase. They have small homes and apartments, very small refrigerators and prefer to shop daily for food in their neighborhood stores. Occasionally a small grocery store but mostly it’s the bakery, the butcher, the wallpaper shop, the stencil shop, the framer, etc., etc., etc. It’s always a joy to experience the sights and sounds of Paris again.

This evening I found out that I was missing something from my luggage. I’m always after Jim when we leave a hotel to make sure we don’t forget anything. Well, this evening I searched high and low for my vitamin pill box; going through all of the suitcases several times. I finally called the hotel in Beaune and sure enough; I’d left them in the room. Fortunately we will be driving right past that city on the way back to Provence on Tuesday. Would have made it the rest of the trip as the pill box only held a week’s supply; but will be nice to be able to stop and pick up the box on Tuesday. This is probably the only city that we will visit on the trip twice with the exception of Madrid at the beginning of the trip. Somebody was watching out for me!

Parking has always been a problem in Paris like all large cities. The cost of parking in an underground garage is now 21 euros for twenty-four hours. We decided to risk parking on the street and after several different tries have finally gotten a spot right in front of the hotel. I was concerned about the hot weather, but we’ve been blessed with cooler weather since we arrived in Paris. Hate leaving things in the trunk of the car when it’s ninety degrees outside. We’re enjoying about seventy degrees at least for a few days.

ANNECY TIME TRIALS

Stage 18 of the 2009 Tour de France is an individual time trial around the city of Annecy which is located next to a very large and unusually clear lake near the Swiss and Italian borders.

Time Trials around Lake Annecy for Stage 18 saw the Swiss Road Champion Fabian Cancellara take the lead early and hold it until the very last rider, Alberto Contador, crossed the finish line 2.5 seconds faster! The challenge of the day was the Col de Bluffy...where we watched the 2004 Tour ride through in yesterday's journal.

BIG NEWS DAY: LANCE ARMSTRONG IS FORMING A NEW BICYCLE TEAM IN 2010 WITH RADIO SHACK AS MAJOR SPONSOR!

The leaders are:

#1: Alberto Contador

#2: Andy Schleck +4:11

#3: Lance Armstrong +5:25

#4: Bradley Wiggins +5:36

#5: Andreas Kloden +5:38

Our Jerseys were awarded today to:

Top Team Overall: Astana

Maillot Jaune: Alberto Contador

Maillot Vert: Thor Hushovd

Maillot a Pois Rouges: Franco Pellizotti

Maillot Blanc: Andy Schleck

And so we continue our 2004 Journal ….

Friday, July 23^rd, 2004 Lons le-Saunier … Stage 18 of 2004 Tour

We decided to change our plans and drive over to the town of Lons le-Saunier where the Tour ended today. It was only about eighty-five kilometers each way. The weather is a little cooler but very humid. Had light rain and lightning most of the way to our destination. We drove the red and yellow roads with only a few deviations and arrived in less than ninety minutes. They were starting to barricade the streets as we arrived but we were able to park about two miles from the finish line.

We had a nice little jaunt to the awards area and back to the car afterwards; our morning exercise. The crowds were already standing along the barricades and the rider’s were not expected to arrive for another four hours or more. Always exciting to see the crowds, enjoy them and then leave before they begin to press the flesh with everyone trying to get close enough to touch the riders. We had a little more trouble getting out of town as the roads were already closed and we had to go back to Beaune by a different route. Yes, we left long before the caravan and the riders arrived in town. We just wanted to see all of the setup and experience the excitement again.

Sometimes I feel like a car rally passenger with the maps spread out on my lap; attempting to read the signs as we speed by and also read the maps at the same time. I also switch between a map of France and a local map so that I can see both the small roads and the overall view for the directions of what large city the roads end at…sometimes a hundred or so miles away! But, I must admit, Jim never yells at me and is willing to stay on the circles (round-d-rounds) until I’m confident that we’re heading off at the correct spoke of the wheel! If necessary, he will turn around to go back to check on signs whenever I ask. What adds to the confusion is the fact that they will put signs for every possible way to every possible town. Miles after we’ve passed the major road to a large town we will continue to see directional signs to that city.

We saw a wonderful flower display this morning. They had a two wheeled wooden cart tipped to the back. The wagon and about five feet beyond were used as a flowerbed. It appeared that the wagon had tipped and the flowers were spilling out the back. Also, so many of our girls grow in this area. This morning with the lack of sunshine they were hanging their heads towards the ground. On the way home the sun was out and their faces were turned to the sunshine! The fields are so beautiful but how many photos can you take of sunflowers!

We arrived back at the hotel in time to watch the last half of the tour on television. Then we walked into the village to enjoy seeing the changes and appreciate the things and places that remain the same. There is one store next to the Tourist Information Center that is one of our favorites. They have a hodgepodge of items, books (yes, some novels for the ladies in English), bouquet items and a wonderful collection of very expensive wines (some from USA) with beautiful stemware and related china for the enjoyment of wine. For the cigar smokers out there; they also have items to enhance the enjoyment of your pleasures including a special selection of wine. But, like so many other things we see; how ya gonna get them home!

From there we walked to find an Art Gallery that we’d seen two years ago. It was still there and Jim stopped in for a minute wanting a card, but also getting a glimpse of the artist creating in the back room. The last time was on a Sunday morning as we were going to Mass and the shop was closed. From there we walked on to the church and heard music inside. Walked in and found a rehearsal in progress for a concert tonight. The singers and orchestra were not in costume but the sounds were wonderful; they were opera arias. We enjoyed them for as long as they allowed us to stay. Finally they politely asked us to leave. We had another great thunder and lightening rainstorm tonight!

SCHLECK BROTHERS TAKE STAGE

Stage 17 of the 2009 Tour de France begins in the ski resort of Bourg-Saint-Maurice and continues through the Swiss Alps for 105 miles including five mountain climbs! The Stage finishes in the town of Le Grand-Bornand, a ski resort located at the foot of the Aravis Mountain range of the Alps.

A wicked day of difficult mountains saw Thor Hushovd taking off early to gain some bonus points to secure his Green Jersey. He held on to the sole lead right up to the last 39 km before being overtaken by the group who started the counterattack. A nice surprise when they announced that the President of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, is riding in a team car today.

Lance played the “perfect teammate” today helping to control Bradley Wiggins who will take extra points tomorrow during the time trials while Kloden and Contador battled with the brothers, Andy & Frank Schleck, for the lead.

Contador broke but only managed to lose his teammate. Suddenly just before the summit, Lance Armstrong repeated his sole journey across the break to Kloden. At the end of the day, Andy pulled back and gave the Stage Win to brother Frank; but the Yellow Jersey stayed with Contador!

The leaders are:

#1: Alberto Contador

#2: Andy Schleck +2.26

#3: Frank Schleck +3.25

#4: Lance Armstrong +3.55

#5: Andreas Kloden +4.44

Our Jerseys were awarded today to:

Top Team Overall: Astana

Maillot Jaune: Alberto Contador

Maillot Vert: Thor Hushovd

Maillot a Pois Rouges: Franco Pellizotti

Maillot Blanc: Andy Schleck

Our 2004 Journal continues as we spend a day in the mountains; parked along a desolate (on normal days) mountain road for five hours to watch the riders’ whiz though on a mountain stage. ….. the 2009 tour will be in this area tomorrow for Individual Time Trial on Stage # 18

Thursday, July 22^nd: 2004 Bluffy

Left about 8:30 am and hit rush hour traffic for a while but managed to arrive in Bluffy before 11:00 am. Bluffy is a very tiny village at the top of a small mountain just outside of Annecy a large city on a large lake located south of Geneva. This was going to be a good (but not too high) hill climb after they’d already completed two major hill climbs earlier in the morning. We chose this climb because we were able to drive to the area, get a parking spot right on the course for viewing and then get back on the road quickly to drive to our hotel in Beaune; a three hour drive!

We picked a spot to park the car that was headed downhill but still an easy walk to the top for viewing. We were in the shade on a curve. Put the American Flag up on the car by using the windows to secure the corners. Then Jim walked back and forth to his favored viewing spot at the top of the hill while I stayed with the car and read a book. About 3 pm the Caravan arrived. Jim was at the car for this and he stood across the road and gathered more of the throwaway items that I did. We got bags, key chains, food, etc., etc; lots of fun. They are going at least thirty to forty miles per hour while they are tossing these things at you; but that definitely add to the fun of the event! After the caravan had passed, Jim went back up the hill to watch the race with his new buddies.

Jim has been up there most of the afternoon; good company and also there was a small television where he was able to watch the race. There was an Italian gentleman with a camper who had a generator and a satellite dish hooked on a fence for a small television set that he put where others could stand around and see it. He also had refrigerated water bottles for the Italian riders that he gave them as they passed. He goes to all the bicycle races and the Italian team knows he will be there on the course with the water bottles. Also, a Frenchman who lives in Annecy near the lake had worked in the USA in Illinois for six to eight months so Jim had lots of fun talking with him in English.

The initial group of three riders whizzed by followed very closely by Lance and a small break away chase group at 4:10 pm. The riders continued to come by every few minutes. We had to wait until the final rider had passed before we could use the road. The last rider was followed by a truck called “Lanterne Rouge” with a flashing sign that said “Race Ferme” meaning that the last rider had passed. It was 4:45 pm; we pulled out right behind the truck and managed to be the first car off the mountain. The second car was right behind us; a couple from Pennsylvania that we’d talked with during the hours of waiting. The wife had given me a novel that she’d just finished; always nice to have another book to read. We headed south back to Chambery, then west to Lyon and back to the north to Beaune. Called the hotel to tell them we were going to arrive late…the clerk did not speak any English. I’m on the cell phone with the French dictionary trying to get her to understand. Finally found the work for late (tard) and she seemed to understand that. Always a challenge, but I certainly can understand and speak a lot more French than I could in 1992.

We found our hotel in Beaune easily since it was the one that we’d stayed in on our 2002 trip. Old, but quaint and walking distance to the old part of town; also has TV and Internet connections. They’ve done extensive renovations since we were two years ago. No central air, but the walls are over two feet thick and our room is very comfortable temperature wise. What more could you want? How about a thunder and lightening storm while we enjoy our evening shot of Pastis? It’s been 90 to 95 degrees this afternoon…we have a huge storm going on right now outside. It’s a storm like they get in the Midwest and south during the summer! This is a great town and we will enjoy it tomorrow as we stay two nights. Known as the hills of gold (Cote d’Oro) because of the value of the wines that they grow in this region called Burgundy. This is our third trip to this area. We’ve done just about everything so will relax tomorrow and absorb the ambiance. Saturday we will watch a time trial and then head into Paris to watch the finals on Sunday. Should be a mad house!

LANCE SHOWS HIS SKILLS!

Stage 16 begins in Martigny and heads south in the high mountains of the Swiss Alps for 98.8 grueling miles to the small mountain town of Bourg-Saint-Maurice, next to the Italian border. Our day will take us into the Italian Alps and then back into France before we complete today’s Stage at the bottom of a very steep descent.

A difficult day with two huge mountains to climb; we saw an early break away by several; the first a group of two followed by a single rider and then a large group of seventeen after the first mountain. These groups merged into one at about 37 miles before the final mountain accent began and about 4 minutes in front of the Peloton at that time.

With just over 20 miles to go the Schleck brothers came out to play taking Contador and Wiggins along with Kloden away from the main Peloton. Suddenly Lance Armstrong came out of the Peloton and rapidly moved to the break away surprising everyone as he passed rider after rider! Suddenly there were 3 Astana riders in the main group who were quickly chasing down the lead group of four including Franco Pellizotti who took both summits to secure his King of the Mountain Jersey.

The group of leaders came back into France behind the lead group and began the dare devil descent to the finish line. A very exciting finish by the Spanish rider Mikel Astarloza winning his first Stage of the Tour de France! He broke from the lead pack just as the Peloton closed the time between the groups!

Several have asked how they figure the team points. The finish time of the first two riders of each team to cross the finish line are combined for the team points each day. So it is really is important to have two members of the same team in the first group to cross the finish line. This award is usually announced long after the podium is torn down and moving on to the next venue; thus my report is changed hours after the initial report if I find that the Team Leader has changed!

The leaders are:

#1: Alberto Contador

#2: Lance Armstrong + 1.37

#3: Bradley Wiggins + 1.46

#4: Andreas Kloden + 2.17

#5: Andy Schleck + 2.26

Our Jerseys were awarded today to:

Top Team Overall: Astana

Maillot Jaune: Alberto Contador

Maillot Vert: Thor Hushovd

Maillot a Pois Rouges: Franco Pellizotti

Maillot Blanc: Andy Schleck

Our 2004 Journal today continues five years earlier and southeast of today’s mountain stage……

Wednesday, July 21^st, 2004 Alpe d’Huez Stage of 2004 Tour de France

Today is the day of the big race up the Alpe d’Huez. This morning’s newspaper has a twelve by eighteen photo of the switchbacks leading up the mountain that was taken yesterday. Every inch appears to be covered with a trailer or motor home or tent. So glad we went yesterday and not today. We had several American families here at the hotel last night that were going to attempt to get as close as possible to the start. There are buses starting from the center of Grenoble at 5:00 am this morning taking people up the mountain to the starting point of the race for five euros each. Private vehicles will not be allowed within seventeen miles after midnight last night. Then after the race they all have to wait in line to be brought back to Grenoble bus by bus….some may be lucky to get back before midnight!

Remember my saying that we’d gone yesterday morning and only gotten about four miles above the starting point of the race. The family from New York said they’d tried about 3 pm in the afternoon and they had been turned around about seven miles before we were. They were taking the bus this morning and then walking as far up the mountains as they could. The race doesn’t start until about 2 pm. We’re watching on television right now and the whole fifteen kilometers (nine miles) is wall-to-wall people. Lance will not start until 5:00 pm. It takes them less than forty-five minutes to ride the Stage. It’s a time trial so they go off individually in two-minute increments.

Our day started after breakfast this morning. We’d packed the five boxes that we purchased on Monday with things that we didn’t need any more, extra books and maps, etc. Some were heavy but each box was only about 3 inches thick and small…they were designed to store magazines. Found the Post Office in Grenoble. Stood in one line; and they sent us around to another line. No one, I mean NO ONE, spoke English in the place. The first gentleman finally gave us forms to fill out for each box. After doing that we got back into line and had a different clerk. She began to put the information into the machine and complete the information on the form. We decided to say that the boxes had clothes in them, she said gifts, we said yes. This was not a fun experience. We kept trying to tell her cheapest way. On the fourth box Jim said…look the tape that she is putting on says “Priorte”…the euro total was adding up rapidly. I started using my French book and asking questions. She said two weeks; we said a month is no problem! She finally got the drift. Cancelled the four that were finished and started on the fifth package and now she was putting “Economique” tape on the boxes. We had to redo four mailing labels. That’s an important French word to learn! “economique” Suffice it to say, it is not cheap to mail packages home. Think twice before you plan to lighten the load by mailing things home. It’s about $5.00 per pound to ship the economique way! Then to cap off this event, when she tried to put the cost on the credit card; nothing worked. After trying three different cards, we started searching our pockets for euros. We came up with just enough to pay the bill! Another reminder, sometimes your credit cards don’t always work so be prepared to have enough euros at all times. As we walked away from the post office; and towards the ATM machine, Jim said…this has been a “journal entry” for sure!

After the post office we headed to the toll way and a side trip to see an historic sight located west and a little south of Grenoble in the village of Hauterives. Soon we’d left the mountains behind and found ourselves back in the land of sunflowers. Jim said he’d read about this place for years but didn’t realize we were in the area until we looked up Grenoble in the Eyewitness Book for things to see in this area. It’s called the “le Palais ideal du Facteur Cheval”. Located north of Romans, it reminds us of three other sites for various reasons: In Los Angeles California we have the “Watt’s Towers”; in Barcelona, Spain there is the Gaudi’s Cathedral and in Death Valley California there is Scotty’s Castle.

Known as one of the greatest follies of France, an eccentric “palace” constructed entirely of stones, single-handedly by a local postman, Ferdinand Cheval. He collected rocks on his daily rounds and built his palace between 1879 and 1912; it became a National historical monument in 1969. It is visited by thousands of visitors from around the world every year.

We arrived during the lunch hour and waited for half an hour. During our wait we walked around the village. When we found a field of sunflowers, we climbed the fence and got into the field for some photographs. It was fun until the bees started buzzing us for disturbing them. The sunflower girls were over five feet in height; taller than I thought they’d be. When the site opened we were able to see the entire thing in about twenty minutes.

Then back on the road and Grenoble to watch the race on television. Lance set one of the fastest times ever and beat his closest competitor by two minutes, when places are usually measured by seconds. We were very proud of him. Talked to some people at the hotel who taken the bus early in the morning. They’d walked up the mountain about two miles and were delighted that they’d gone. They arrived back at the hotel about 9 pm due to the time to walk down the mountain and waiting for the return bus after the race. We were still happy with our decision to enjoy the day and then watch the race on television.

Jim is pouring us each a Pastis as I type. It’s nearly 4 pm. We have the window and door to the room open, as it’s about 93 degrees. Warm afternoon! The Pastis should warm the insides and equalize the temperature. We purchased a small bottle and enjoy a very small quantity each evening before bed. Jim swears that it helps him sleep through the night better.

CONTADOR HAS ARRIVED IN HIS PLAYGROUND!

Stage 15 begins in the Swiss Alps and the boys will put the “peddle to the metal” when they leave the city of Pontarlier and head through the mountains for 128.6 miles to the ski resort of Verbier.

Predicted Fireworks appeared in the final miles of Stage 15 of the 2009 Tour de France as Alberto Contador “arrived in his playground”! An initial break away by 10 riders during their ride into Switzerland fell apart as the true mountain test began late in today’s ride. Once Contador broke there was no stopping him….Andy Schleck tried but couldn’t touch him as he cruised effortlessly up the steep mountain in the Swiss Alps taking the Stage and the Yellow Jersey!

The leaders are:

#1: Alberto Contador

#2: Lance Armstrong + 1.37

#3: Bradley Wiggins + 1.46

#4: Andreas Kloden + 2.17

#5: Andy Schleck + 2.26

Our Jerseys were awarded today to:

Top Team Overall: Astana

Maillot Jaune: Alberto Contador

Maillot Vert: Thor Hushovd

Maillot a Pois Rouges: Franco Pellizotti

Maillot Blanc: Andy Schleck

Today is a rest day for Martha but I’ll be back after the teams take their rest day tomorrow, Monday July 20^th…..we’ll continue our 2004 Journal on Tuesday, July 21^st ………

OUR TRIP UP THE ALPE D'HUEZ

Stage 14 of the 2009 Tour de France begins in Colmar, how nice that the riders had an opportunity to enjoy such a beautiful town last night. The Stage runs through the beautiful countryside ending 123.7 miles later in Besancon, an historical city now known for its art and history. It was the birthplace of Victor Hugo who wrote Les Miserable.

Early rain again kept today’s race across the plains on a more predictable course. There was an early break away of 12 riders with a broad representation from many different teams today. The rain stopped as Astana kept the pace of the Peloton strong to keep the break lead down. The rain was light enough for the most of the race that the race caps stayed off their backs. During the last few miles the Russian rider Serguei Ivanov, six times Russian Champion broke from the group and finished for his second Stage Win in his seventh Tour de France.

The story of the day was George Hincapie, part of the break away closed the time gap for the Yellow Jersey for this stage throughout the day missing his opportunity by just five seconds!

The leaders are:

#1: Rinaldo Nocentini 58:13:52

#2: George hincapie +.05

#3: Alberto Contado +.06

#4: Lance Armstrong +.08

#5: Christophe Le Mevel +.43

The Jerseys today:

Top Team Overall: Ag2r La Mondiale

Yellow Jersey: Rinaldo Nocentini

Green Jersey: Thor Hushovd

Polk-a-dot Jersey: Franco Pellizotti

White Jersey: Tony Martin

And so we pick up our story in 2004 during our first full day in Grenoble at the base of the Alpe d’Huez; the site of many of the more famous mountain stages in the history of the Tour de France…….

Tuesday, July 20^th, 2004 Grenoble

At breakfast this morning we met a very nice lady from Seattle, Washington; probably about fifty years of age. She travels by herself for about a month every summer in Europe; mostly France, sometimes driving and sometimes by train. Got to talking about the Tour and she is also following the race. She will go from here to Beaune. We noticed her yellow bracelet that only Nike is selling here in Europe to support the Armstrong Cancer Fundraiser. We’ve been trying to purchase them for a week and haven’t been able to. They’re only a dollar. Everyone from all the riders to thousands of the spectators have them. They’re yellow rubber and have the word “LIVESTONG” on them. Nike has pledge to match the money raised (up to one million dollars) if they sell one million during the Tour. You can order them in the States online from the Armstrong Foundation; not sure of the exact website; but a little searching should find it for you if you’re interested. But, she had two extra ones that she gave Jim and me after she found out that we'd been trying to buy one without luck...and we still don't know her name! People are so nice when you travel.

After breakfast we headed for the Alpe d’Huez by car. Since Jim is not planning to find a place to park and sleep all night in the car; I went with him. We drove thirty eight miles each way and it took us a little over three hours. We came to a dead standstill in traffic about three miles from the top. We’d been inching along for at least a mile before that along very steep switchbacks. No places to park even if we wanted to. I finally believe their prediction that there will be a million people on the mountain tomorrow for the race. After turning around we timed the traffic jam….we passed cars headed up the mountain that were bumper to bumper, inching along for six miles from where we’d turned around. The smell of clutches and brakes was everywhere. We asked one German camper on the corner of a switchback when they’d arrived to secure their spot (and they were only about 2 miles up)…they’d been camped there since last Thursday. Oh…we also had rain for about two thirds of our trip up the mountain. Many of the bikers had full packs on their bikes for camping overnight on the mountain. Everything had to be soaking wet by the time they arrived.

The Road heading in that direction will be closed at Vizille (about 25 miles before the race starts in le Boure-d’Oisans) after midnight tonight and will be closed for two days. The race on Thursday also starts from the same town and goes over another mountain heading north in the direction of Geneve.

Arrived back at the hotel and spent the afternoon packing boxes to mail tomorrow and watching Stage Fifteen of the Tour de France. It will end today in the town of Villard that we visited yesterday. Weather is very humid and warm. But the mountains in this area are spectacular. Everywhere you look there is a vista of mountain ranges to enjoy.

The race is now over for today. We have thunder outside, mountain climbers are beginning to practice climbing on the shear cliffs next to our hotel. Lance Armstrong won the Stage and the Yellow Jersey today. Little Thomas Voeckler, the brand new rider; a Frenchman riding for a French Team (his first year), only 23 years old, has said goodbye to the yellow jersey. He has won it nearly every stage since the beginning of the Tour. He’s truly the “darling” of the tour. He’s like Thomas The Train….I think I can, I think I can…… I’m sure he’ll get a top contract and probably be a team leader next year after the results this year. I’ve challenged Jim that if Thomas gets to number seven win in years to come; we’ll come back to see him win! Many people feel that he could possibly be the next Lance Armstrong in the Tour de France!

COLMAR

Stage 13 of the 2009 Tour de France begins in Vittel and ends 124.3 miles later in Colmar; a quaint town with a mixture of French and German known as the Alsace-Lorraine Region. We visited Colmar in 2002. We’ll have some mountains today for the first time since our three days in the Pyrenees Mountains.

RAIN dampened the action but didn’t stop an early break away by 7 riders that quickly reduced to three. For a long time there were three….then there were two….and finally in the last stretch there was only the German Heinrich Haussler! A 25 year old born in Australia of German parents; he returned to Germany and has lived there for years. Today he took his first Stage victory 4 minutes ahead of the second place rider; this is his third year of riding on the Tour de France. Colmar is less than twenty miles from his home in Germany.

No serious attacks today, probably because of the weather, all the main leaders remain the same except for the loss of Levi Leipheimer who broke his wrist yesterday and is now out of the race!

The leaders are:

#1: Rinaldo Nocentini

#2: Alberto Contado +.06

#3: Lance Armstrong +.08

#4: Bradley Wiggins +.46

#5: Andreas Kloden +.54

The Jerseys today:

Top Team Overall: Team Saxo Bank

Yellow Jersey: Rinaldo Nocentini

Green Jersey: Thor Hushovd

Polk-a-dot Jersey: Franco Pellizotti

White Jersey: Tony Martin

Today I thought that I’d print out a journal from our visit to Colmar in 2002 to give you a taste of the region and possibly entice you to visit there someday……

September 10^th, 2002 Colmar, France

Bonjour Amis et Famille…. September 10^th, 11^th & 12^th

September 11^th: As you can see by the salutation, we’re enjoying being back in France again. Yesterday it rained most of the day, gentle but steady. After playing with different things on the computer for about an hour I finally tried a different number that was at a very low speed and it connected and stayed! So, we got the journal about Switzerland and the cow country sent! We then checked out the lay of the land….a truly spectacular postcard perfect old city. Not a straight street in town, they change names every few blocks and many are pedestrian traffic only; but worth the extra effort. We’re staying at a Comfort Inn on the outskirts of town. Have to drive to the sites but nice to save the Euros after Switzerland. That was VERY expensive! And the conveniences are more modern. Had a lovely traditional Alsace meal of choucroute garni in the hotel dining room and Jim ordered his favorite meat: duck.

Up this morning and out the door early for our last trip to the Laundromat. Had fun conversing with a mother and daughter who travel for a month every summer in Europe. They live in Minnesota; mother is a retired real estate broker and daughter is a teacher (going back later than usual this trip). We had lots in common and spent the time discussing our travels and the different people that we have met. The time flew for me and Jim had fun exploring the town in his rain gear…yes, it’s still coming down with spells of clear in between.

We spent the afternoon walking the town of Colmar. First we went to La Petite Venice, which is a canal that meanders through the old town. We rode with two German couples in a flat-bottomed boat powered by a battery operated fishing trawling motor. The guide only spoke French but the view was so great we didn’t need the stories as we went under stone bridges so low that we had to duck our heads. On one house you could still see the Latrine room that emptied into the canal (only for looks nowadays!) This town is almost entirely half-timbered buildings that have been here for centuries. The town didn’t have any damage from the wars, so it’s all real as opposed to rebuilt after the wars.

Then we went to the Tanners’ Quarters and found a Creperie for lunch. Mine had thin slices of ham, cheese and topped with a sunny side up egg in the middle. They make a wonderful light lunch. Especially when washed down with a beer! Afterwards we visited the churches and a Museum in town. The Museum had some unusual Altar pieces and one entitled Isenheim Altarpiece by Grunewald had the face of Christ; in the words of Rick Steves: “a psychedelic explosion of Resurrection joy…is the spiritual equivalent of jumping from the dentist’s chair directly into a Jacuzzi”. Jim had seen this image used in a television program once and wondered where it came from. Finally came back to the hotel for the newscast of the 9/11 Remembrances. They were carried live on almost every channel on TV. Had hoped that I would hear some church bells ringing in town but didn’t.

September 12^th:

Spent the whole day touring the “Route Du Vin” and we were surrounded by vineyards of all different types of grapes on every road we took! Grapes are definitely their one and only crop in this area. It will be the same in Beaune. Contrary to recommendations, we didn’t tour the wineries but instead spent our day in the picturesque little towns that dot the hillsides in between the vineyards. We went to the best one first but even then it was hard to stop taking photos all day. I’ve taken 225 photos in the last three days. Good thing I use a digital camera. One of the things that we noticed was that many of the vineyards had a full size Crucifix at the corner of their plot of land. Interesting that there are so many religious icons everywhere in Europe and yet we don’t see that many young adults in the churches on Sunday. My daughter Mary would say, “Mom, there’s more to religion than attendance at Sunday Mass!”

Our very first stop this morning was up the hill in the forest to walk a quarter of a mile in to see three old Chateau Ruins. Could have been a great view but it was hazy from all the moisture in the air. Rained all day yesterday on and off, today was beautiful but cloudy. Couple interesting things; first we saw a wonderful sign on the road going up that showed a diagram of a car with a masked man dipping into it. I think they were telling us to beware of auto burglary in the area. Then when we arrived at the ruins there were two young men in costume. One was dressed all in white with a devil’s mask and a white plastic space gun, he was sitting inside one of the towers in the doorway. Allowed me to take his photo but otherwise was silent. Strange was the only explanation.

Next we went to Eguisheim; I couldn’t stop taking photos. First thing we saw was a 1000-pound stork’s nest at the peak of the church tower. Flowers were in every window and ledge in the half-timbered buildings. Buildings were painted all different colors. Baskets of flowers were hanging on light posts, and every other conceivable open space that could hold a blossom. We finally had to leave as we had lots of other villages to visit today. We stopped for lunch at a local Cafeteria along the highway. Knew the food was excellent as it was full of locals. We were right!

Then we stopped at Kayersberg, the birthplace and home of Albert Schweitzer, another extremely picturesque village in every detail. Saw another stork’s nest at the peak of a tower but this time it also had a live stork nesting. She followed us with her eyes as we walked around the base taking photos. Then at the bridge we saw a fly fisherman in the stream. Walked around to another bridge near him and took video’s of his catching two different trout within a few minutes. The first was about ten inches and the second one had to be sixteen to twenty inches in length. He had a wonderful way with his rod and the line whipped through the air like strokes on a canvas creating a wonderful visual image.

Our next stop was in the village of Sigolsheim. We drove up through the vineyards to a World War II cemetery for French Soldiers. On the bluff overlooking the valley they had built a Memorial to the American Soldiers who helped the French liberate Alsace. Then on to our last village of Riquewihr that Rick Steves said was “overly picturesque”. Had to see what that would look like compared to the others we’d seen today. Yes, larger and also very picturesque, but we didn’t feel that it was more so than the others we’d seen. The exception being that it was absolutely packed with about ten tour buses. It was impossible to take a photo without a dozen or more tourists in front of you. So overall, we much preferred Eguisheim and Kayersberg.

HEADING FOR THE ALPS

Stage 12 of the 2009 Tour de France begins in Tonnene, a rural town located half way between Paris and Dijon. The race ends 131.1 miles later in Vittel, a city known for its rich architectural heritage.

Wind again was a factor today and the 7 man break away happened just before the 50 mile mark on today’s Stage. With a 4 minute lead they stayed away from the main Peloton right up until about 12 miles from the finish when 2 of the 7 broke away for a short time. Then at 3 miles to go Nicki Sorensen, Danish rider with Saxo Bank, broke loose and headed alone towards the finish line for his first stage win in seven tours. He is also the 2008 Champion of Denmark and now in the top 20 of the 2009 Tour de France!

The leaders are:

#1: Rinaldo Nocentini

#2: Alberto Contado +.06

#3: Lance Armstrong +.08

#4: Levi Leipheimer +.39

#5: Bradley Wiggins +.46

The Jerseys today:

Top Team Overall: Saxo Bank

Yellow Jersey: Rinaldo Nocentini

Green Jersey: Mark Cavendish

Polk-a-dot Jersey: Egoi Martinez

White Jersey: Tony Martin

Our journey in 2004 continues as we leave Gordes heading north to Grenoble….

July 19^th, 2004 Traveling towards Grenoble

Today was a travel day for us and a day of rest for the Tour de France. But, we discovered on the road that the riders may be resting but the trucks and cars were on the road headed north for the next stages to be held near Grenoble. We left “the girls” (our sunflowers) behind in Provence as we journeyed north on toll roads. Must tell you that if you ever plan to stay overnight in Gordes, we were extremely pleased with our hotel. They even had an exchange shelf of novels in English. So now I have two new books to read. I chose them more for their size than content.

There are rumors that there will be a million people on the Alpe d’Huez on Wednesday for the time trial stage straight up the mountain. We arrived in Saint-Egreve, a suburb of Grenoble, about noon. We went shopping for some boxes to start mailing extra things home. We need to lighten the baggage before the end of the month so thought we’d get a head start here. The hotel is a one star with a fabulous view of the mountains. But the air conditioner does not work and it’s 95 degrees. This was the closest we could get a reservation to the Stages that are happening in this area. Price was not a question, space was the only criteria; and, Jim started very early attempting to get reservations. No mosquitoes (rarely see window screens in Europe) so we’ve got the one window open and can hear the tour group of bicycle riders from Belgium enjoying their evening. They moved tables and chairs outside and partied until late in the evening. Jim finally asked the last group to move inside about midnight. They were right under our window. We do have a television and access to the Internet. Cell phone is working fine…I needed to add time and that’s why it hasn’t worked for a few days.

During the afternoon we drove to the south part of Grenoble (Eybens) for a visit with our friend Sam, his brother Bob and friend Steve. Finally put our schedules together and had a very enjoyable two-hour visit sharing stories about our trips. Sam got caught in the cold rainstorm when we were in La Mongie. He was on the mountain on his bicycle; a bit different from our version as we were in a dry hotel room. Tomorrow Sam says he’s riding his bicycle up to the top of Alpe d’Huez. Jim has definitely decided not to drive up and sleep in his sleeping bag the night before the race.

The final decision came after we took a couple of hours and drove up to Villard, the stage end on Tuesday. Remember this is Monday. The road was packed with parked cars and campers, thousand of bicycle riders and bumper-to-bumper traffic. The final place that the road would be open after 9 am on Tuesday would be at least six miles from the finish line. We stopped, picked up the tour route through the town, drove as far as they would allow us to drive today; still several miles from the end. We were allowed to drive as far as the Luge Site from the Grenoble Olympics from the 1960’s. And this is not the big day!

Back to the hotel for a quiet and light dinner before cold showers to cool off and another session of Band of Brothers in French on the television.

STAGE 11 RESULTS

Stage 11 of the 2009 Tour de France begins in the rural town of Vatan, a population of approximately 2,000 people plus the overnight addition of about 10,000 people including fans and staff for the Tour de France. The race through the countryside ends 119.3 miles later in Saint-Fargeau, another small town steeped in history.

Another early two man break away by the Belgium Johan Van Summeren and a Polish rider, Marcin Sapa. They held their lead right up until the 5 km mark when they were caught by the Peloton. An exciting finish by Mark Cavendish who regained the Green Jersey also by his fantastic finish. He’s taking the podium for the 11^th Stage; his 4^th Stage win of 2009.

The leaders are:

#1: Rinaldo Nocentini 39:11:04

#2: Alberto Contado 39:11:10 +.06

#3: Lance Armstrong 39:11:12 +.08

#4: Levi Leipheimer 39:11:58 +.54

The Jerseys today:

Top Team Overall: Ag2-La Mondiale a 3 second lead over Astana

Yellow Jersey: Rinaldo Nocentini

Green Jersey: Mark Cavendish

Polk-a-dot Jersey: Egoi Martinez

White Jersey: Tony Martin

Our 2004 Journal continues tomorrow when we travel to Grenoble and the famous trek up the Alpe d’Huez….do we watch the race in person or on television…that is the question of the day!

GORDES IN PROVENCE

Stage 10 of the 2009 Tour de France began after a day of rest in the city of Limoges and ended 120.5 miles later in the city of Issoudun with history going back to the Gallo-Roman era. Flat stages today but the French will want to win to celebrate the major holiday of the French Revolution: Bastille Day!

On the first hill today we saw a break away of 3 Frenchmen and 1 Russian riders. They held their lead for over four hours, a lead of only three minutes most of the time, until the last seconds of the race when the Peloton caught them! Mark Cavendish sprinted into take the Stage Winner position with Thor Hushovd a close second, third place was taken by the young American rider Tyler Farrar! An exciting but not unexpected finish for Stage 10 in the beautiful city of Issoudun.

Our top four leaders are:

#1: Rinaldo Nocentini

#2: Alberto Contador + .6 seconds

#3: Lance Armstrong +.8 seconds

#4: Levi Lephemier + .39 seconds

Our Jerseys were awarded today to:

Top Team Overall: Stages 8, 9 & 10: Ag2R-La Mondiale

(Team Astana is 3 seconds behind on the overall team score)

Maillot Jaune: Rinaldo Nocentini

Maillot Vert: Thor Hushovd

Maillot a Pois Rouges: Egoi Martinez

Maillot Blanc: Tony Martin

Back to our 2004 story as we leave La Mongie and head for Provence…

Saturday, July 17^th, 2004 Travel day to Gordes in Provence

We had breakfast at the hotel in La Mongie before heading out for the long drive to Gordes in the Luberon area of Provence. At breakfast we enjoyed watching some Americans (from Charleston) type emails and send them on their Blackberry. Their service was through T-Mobile and he said that all he did was notify T-Mobile prior to leaving the states that he was going to be in Europe and they “registered” him. A piece of information for you Blackberry fans if you travel in Europe. We offered to take a photo and email it for them after they mentioned that it was too bad it didn’t have a built-in camera. [my how fast times change!] They loved the idea and provided me with a friend’s email address. We took the photo and sent it after we arrived in Gordes.

It was a long day of driving even though we paid the tolls for the major roads. There was very heavy traffic between the weekenders heading to the coast of the Mediterranean for cooler weather and the thousand heading for the next stage of the Tour de France. We never made it to Lourdes while we were in the area; but since we’d been twice before it was not high on the priority list. From Toulouse on we had fields of sunflowers. Some were so new they hadn’t bloomed yet. No rain but overcast skies.

Arrived in Gordes at our wonderful Hotel Le Mas des Romanins located an easy ten minute walk from the center of the village. We had a wonderful view of the village from our bedroom window. After we watched Lance Armstrong take first place in Stage thirteen on television; we walked into town and then we drove down to the Abbey Senanque. The Abbey is a ten minute drive down a narrow, winding road that is mostly one way with pullout located along the sides every fifty meters or so. People park to take photos of the Abbey from the road. We arrived at 6 pm, just in time for the Vespers service in the Chapel. It lasted about an hour; there were seven monks, no music except for their chanting. Made us want to come back for Mass on Sunday. The Abbey is surrounded by fields of lavender. Last time we were here they were in the process of harvesting but now it is in full bloom. The bees and butterflies were very busy.

Back at the hotel we walked to our dinner reservations in the village; a charming little Bistro called The Bouquet de Basilic. Very elegant in a simple way; we ate outside in the patio area. Enjoyed a Kir and then a tomato/cheese salad followed by thinly sliced salmon with a wonderful sauce. Jim enjoyed sharing the salad and his plate of Canard with an assortment of vegetables. We’ve been pretty good about the “spirits” and generally have a Kir and then share a large bottle of water with gas instead of wine and/or beer. Helps us sleep better at night. We walked home to the sound of the insects in the trees. If you watched Tiger Woods play golf in Georgia several months ago…that’s the sound that we hear outside. Cicadas are something like grasshoppers but they make more noise and stay in the trees. And another beautiful day has come to a gentle close.

Sunday, July 18^th:

Down to breakfast by 8 am, we enjoyed a buffet style continental breakfast on the patio overlooking the city. By 9 am we were back at the Abbey Senanque for Mass. The church was full and today there were nine Monks; six priest and three brothers. They all participated in the celebration of the Mass. We were able to sit right up in front and even attempted to sing some of the songs during the mass with the French people. Again, there was no music except for un-amplified voices enhanced by the high dome of the stone chapel. The Mass lasted for an hour and fifteen minutes. But who was counting; it was so beautiful. Afterwards we walked the grounds and enjoyed smelling the Lavender again. Several of the people at the mass were staying there at the Monastery. Lots of empty rooms and it appears they rent them out? Don’t know the details but if you’re traveling in this area it might be a good one to check. I do know that Borders Books has some books specifically dealing with staying at convents and monasteries in Europe.

The weather was getting warm so we changed into shorts before walking into the village to check out the Historical Sites. One that we visited was an Olive Oil Mill. Due to the location on the hillside, every building had extensive basements (caves) dug under them for storage and production of wine and olive oil from the fruits of their vineyards and orchards. Some of these went down for up to seven stories underground. They date back to over a thousand years ago. Very cool place to tour on this very warm day!

Bike race time, we watched the fourteenth stage of the Tour from our room. Nothing exciting, rather level day; unknown leaders…as Jim said they’ve started their rest day early. They spend the night in Nimes and have Monday off as an official rest day before the mountains starting Tuesday. High ranking riders are going to remain about the same but it’s a great opportunity for those in the back to have a great day.

Tonight we’re driving over toVenasque, about half an hour away, for dinner at the Hotel Ramparts. We stayed there for a week in 2000 and remember their spectacular sauces made from herbs picked fresh from the nearby woods every day.

We’re off for Saint Egreve tomorrow; high in the mountains near Grenoble. We’ll be there three days to experience the ride up the “Alpe de ‘Huez” mountain by the riders on Stage 16 of the 2004 Tour. Yes…we will have missed four stages and one rest day while we’ve been enjoyed Provence.

Jim has to make the big decision on Tuesday as to whether or not he is going to drive up to the top of Alpe d’Huez to see the finish at the top of the mountain on Wednesday. If he goes, he will be sleeping in his car for at least one night in the sleeping bag that we’ve brought with us from home for this purpose. The problem is not that our hotel is so far from the race as the fact that there is only one road in and out and they close it early and open it long after the race is completed. Me? I’m going to stay comfortably in the hotel and watch it on television. He probably will also as we’re finding the crowds are extremely large and traffic is horrible on the roads. Also, we change hotels the day after that Stage is completed.

STAGE 9 OF THE 2009 TOUR RESULTS

Stage 9 of the 2009 Tour de France began in Saint-Gaudens. The route took them over and down the Col du Tourmalet, passing through our ski village of La Mongie and the famous village of Lourdes before ending 99.4 miles later in the French city of Tarbes at the foot of the Pyrenees Mountains.

Stage 9 was definitely “Strange” and not as expected. A break away by Franco Pellizotti and Pierrick Fedrigo on the first main climb of the Col d-Aspin and they stayed away for the balance of the race! There was no real battles on the mountain stages because the finish was just too far away.

The Frenchman, Pierrick Fedrigo took the Stage, his second in the Tour de France, just nosing out the Italian Pellizotti and less than a minute in front of the Peloton. This makes three stage victories for the French in the 2009 Tour!

All of the leaders finished in the first chase group so all of the times of the leaders remain the same! Eight seconds separates the top three riders as they fly to Limoges today and have a rest day tomorrow.

The Jerseys at the end of today belonged to:

Top Team Overall: Team Astana

Yellow Jersey: Rinaldo Noncentini (Italy)

Green Jersey: Thor Hushovd (Norway)

Polk-a-dot Jersey: Egoi Martinez (Spain)

White Jersey: Tony Martin (24 year old German)

For more information on Lourdes, visit my older blogs for the story of my visit there last spring on March 11, 2009.

http://marthajans.blogspot.com/2009/03/lourdes-france.html

Tomorrow, July 13^th, Monday, is a REST DAY for the riders…so I’m taking a rest day also. But, I’d like to leave you today with a story that I found on the Internet:

By Joe Silva

Perhaps the most unattractive thing about the Tour De France passing through one of the many towns it visits every year is that in just about 24 hours it’s gone. It’s a rolling caravan of pomp, prestige, and pain touching the lives of millions of countrymen even if the interaction amounts to not much more than a few blurred seconds as it whizzes down their city center…….

So true Joe, but the memories will last a lifetime!

Au revoir until Tuesday!

LA MONGIE IN 2004

Stage 8 of the 2009 Tour de France began in the Principality of Andorre in the capital city of Andorre-la-Vieille and ran for 109.4 miles to Saint-Girons in France. They started at an altitude of 3800 feet, reached 8054 feet and ended at 1325 feet; having completed three mountain climbs during this stage.

Speed…Speed…Speed: The word of the day as the riders raced back into France!

An early break away group maintained their distance for the entire race. The final sprint brought the 25 year old Spanish rider, Luis Leon Sanchez, across the line ahead of the other three for victory on the podium today as the winner of Stage 8!

The overall standings remain the same as all of the leaders crossed the finish line together minutes behind the four man break away!

At the end of the day the Jerseys belonged to:

Top Team overall: Astana

Maillot Jaune: Rinaldo Noncentini (Italy)

Maillot Vert: Thor Hushovd (Norway)

Maillot A Pois Rouges: Christophe Kern (France)

Maillot Blanc: Tony Martin (24 yr old German)

And now for our exciting story of our day in 2004 at the finish line at the top of a mountain in La Mongie; one of the villages that the 2009 Tour will pass through during their Stage 9 Tour tomorrow from Saint-Gaudens to Tarbes.

Friday, July 16^th, 2004. La Mongie: On the Finish Line

We didn’t sleep much but what an exciting night. We had a jam session going with a very loud DJ until 1:30 am…sounded like a radio in our room with the volume up as high as it would go. Earplugs were of little help. In addition to the DJ, who was playing mostly American tunes with English lyrics there were at least a thousand or more very loud observers, mostly men, who were singing and yelling with the music. The D.J. and music stopped but the partygoers kept going…one very drunk group until 5 am. Firecrackers went off intermittently all night long.

About 1 am the large empty parking lot directly across from our room started to fill with huge trucks that had arrived from the finish line on Thursday in Fignac. From that point on they very quietly or as quietly, as they could work, began to set up for today’s finish. We are looking directly into the awards podium from our window. The finish line and all the officials are directly below us. It’s going to be a long and fun day. I’ve moved a table in front of the window to sit on as it’s difficult to tear myself away from the window. The best part is I’ve got a bathroom within five feet of my window that flushes and is private! The sun is out and it’s getting warm very fast. Last night it got pretty cold here on the mountain. The fireworks have started again. It’s almost 10 am and the race does not arrive here until about 5:01 pm (per Mister Jim with the help of a newspaper). The riders leave at twelve noon from Castelsarrasin, 197.5 kilometers (122.5 miles) with two killer climbs at the very end.

We had wonderful seats from the window in our room. Jim went down to the lobby to see most of the race on television and raced back to our room for the finish. I sat in our window for most of the day (tethered by a scarf tied to the radiator under the window). For a cushion I used the laundry bag (also tethered to the radiator). The sun was out bright and early and lasted until about 2 pm. The storm clouds gathered with lightening and thunder until the sky opened and poured buckets on the people sitting on the hills, walls and just about any open space. Many had been there since very early this morning. Lots of sunburns! Most stuck it out for the hour that it rained but a few gave up and went inside where ever they could. Vendors were prepared and begun selling rain gear as soon as the dark clouds started gathering. We were safe and dry inside our hotel for the duration.

The first two riders arrived right on time at 5 pm; it was Lance Armstrong and Ivan Basso, an Italian and very good friend to Lance. Basso beat him across the finish line at the last minute. Rumor was that Lance let up at the last minute to give Basso his first Stage Win; a friend whose mother is being treated for cancer. Armstrong was also a winner that day as he made a huge cut in his overall time that should put him in the lead after tomorrow’s race. It was neck and neck for the last two hundred meters. Very exciting, but not the outcome we had hoped for; Lance had taken first on this mountain in 2002 and we fully expected him to be first across the line again. But, tomorrow there are many more steep hills to climb and Lance tends to excel at that challenge. The Yellow Jersey was awarded to little Tommy Voeckler who has won the hearts of everyone as he continues to hold on to that small point lead to maintain first place; each day is a struggle as they head further into the mountains where he will eventually lose that lead to a rider that excels on the mountains; probably our Lance Armstrong tomorrow!

Well it’s now 9 pm. The race was over and the prizes awarded before 6 pm. They were taking things down before the awards ceremony was completed. It’s pretty much down but they are still loading some of the equipment. Many of the vehicles have already left for the next Stage tomorrow. They will work all night and tomorrow preparing for the twenty minutes or less that it usually takes for the last riders to finish, and an awards ceremony that last about fifteen minutes. But, it’s a real moneymaker for the town and the Tour de France organization. Thousands of people are following the tour from town to town for the three weeks that it lasts; others are content to pick up one or more stages. This particular ski area is usually closed this time of year and opened especially for this event. They will all close within a few days.

Most of the photos in the slideshow were taken from our hotel window!

PYRENEES MOUNTAINS

Stage 7 of the 2009 Tour de France will take the riders 139.2 miles from the coast of Spain to the mountain top of Arcalis above the tiny principality of Andorre in the Pyrenees Mountains. There are a series of five climbs which should start to separate the sprinters from the climbers!

Another exciting day on the Tour with the Yellow Jersey surprise victory by the first Italian rider since 2000 to take the honors; Rinaldo Noncentini is 6 seconds ahead of Alberto Contador for the best time of the Tour to date and will start in the Maillot Jaune tomorrow!

Brice Feillu, a 23 year old Frenchman, won the King of the Mountain and also was the first rider across the finish line to take Stage 7 glory on the podium!

The top five riders include three members of the Astana Team with Alberto Contador in second place, Lance Armstrong in third place and Levi Leipheimer in fourth.

For more information: http://www.letour.fr/2009/TDF/LIVE/us/700/classement/

The Standings are as follows at the end of Stage 7:

Over all Team: Astana

Yellow Jersey: Rinaldo Noncentini Green Jersey: Mark Cavendish

King of the Mountain: Brice Feillu White Jersey: Tony Martin

And, as promised here is the 2004 story of our travel day from Triegnic to La Mongie to witness a Stage Finish live and in person!

Thursday, July 15^th, 2004 Traveling to La Mongie

It’s after 10 pm and we’re in La Mongie, a ski resort high in the Pyrenees mountains near the French and Spanish border. If you’re familiar with the area we can see the Tourmalet Pass. There are firecrackers going off, music playing and car after car still trying to find a parking place for the night. The mountainside is covered with thousands of tents all here for the Tour de France that ends Stage 12 just below our window tomorrow about 5 pm. This is the culmination of an eighteen-mile uphill climb.

A bit of history about the Tour de France:

La Mongie is on one of the most important stages of the Tour de France. The Tour has regularly passed along the route since the inclusion of the Pyrenees in 1910. In 2004 the 12th stage terminated in La Mongie village. The last time the Tour crossed the Col du Tourmalet was the 10th stage of the 2008 competition; the route passed through La Mongie before reaching the Col du Tourmalet.

Tour de France stage finishes in La Mongie:

Year	Stage	Start of stage	Distance (km)	Category	Stage winner	Yellow jersey
2004	12	Castelsarrasin	197.5	1	Ivan Basso	Thomas Voeckler
2002	11	Pau	158	1	Lance Armstrong	Lance Armstrong
1970	18	Saint-Gaudens	135.5	1	Bernard Thévenet	Eddy Merckx

Today’s story began as we left our hotel this morning and headed south towards the Pyrenees Mountains stopping in Triegnac on the way to mail some postcards. I got out of the car, dropped them into a mailbox and proceed to walk straight into a hanging pot that had just been watered! Not an auspicious start to our day! I was fine; the pot was missing some water and dirt. Shook the dirt from my hair, put on a dry shirt and off we went. Traveled the main roads and paid the tolls for a smooth day of driving. Only saw a few sunflower fields around Toulouse; and there were a few vineyards but mostly open grazing fields or wheat fields.

Jim and I had a different opinion as to where our hotel was for the evening. He was sure that we were in Bagneres-de-Bigorre, a large city at the base of the mountain. I was sure, based on the address of the hotel that he’d given to me several months ago, that we were at the finish line in La Mongie. One must remember not to crow too loudly as he was working over the Internet with five different hotels in the surrounding one hundred mile radius. We arrived in Bagneres, found the Tourist Information and Jim went in to ask for directions to the hotel. She pointed up the hill and said La Mongie and smiled. We headed up the hill. From that point on there were more and more bicycle riders until we were passing one about every twenty feet. They were going both ways on the hill. Traffic was a bear and that was before it really got bad. The road was lined with campers and trailers that have probably been parked here for a week or more to preserve their spot on this long final hill to the finish line. We arrived in La Mongie about 2:30 pm and found our hotel right on the finish line across the street from the Cable Car lifts up the mountain to the Pic du Midi. There is a huge observatory at the top of the mountain as well as the ski runs.

We’re in the older part of the hotel that is considered a “one star”; but, we have a private bathroom and electricity. We’re on the fourth floor and no elevator; it helps that we’re using nylon bags and leaving the large suitcases in the trunk of the car. When Jim first inquired about reservations to the main hotel several months ago, we were told that they were already fully booked. A month later we received an email that said they could give us a room in the “old part” of the hotel. The accommodations would “not be much” but we jumped at the opportunity to be on the top of the mountain as opposed to a hotel at the base of the mountain.

We settled in and then went walking. There are cows, goats and sheep wandering all over the place. People in tents have them walking right beside their tents. They are wrecking havoc with the cars and bikes on the road as they walk anywhere they please. And don’t forget the gifts they leave, also anywhere they please. One walks looking down or runs the risk of a fresh “mud” pie on their shoe!

We looked all day for our friend Sam who said he was riding up the mountain today to see the course. Finally reached Sam on the cell phone on the fourth try and turns out his hotel is further away than they thought so they will see one of the other climbs tomorrow but not the finish. I told Sam that if he was riding up tomorrow I’d borrow a paint brush and put a sign “GO SAM” on the street for him; that gave him a chuckle. Yes, our cell phone works like a charm here, but no internet access as the phone in our room is hard wired and no way to hook into the system. The trend here is to write encouraging messages with paint right on the road for the bike riders. This is especially popular on the hills. They use paint and large roller brushes. The signs last for years sometimes depending on the paint and amount of traffic. Some use chalk which fades pretty fast!

Had dinner tonight at a pizza bar, first pizza we’ve had in months so we also had beer. Hang the diet…this is definitely party night. It’s nearly 11 pm now and the fireworks are going off all over the place. We have a party going on below our window one story down on the deck. It’s going to be a long, long night. Met a young man from Connecticut and he was excited about the “good times tonight”. We have our American flag hanging out the window. I hooked some heavy locks (from the luggage) to the bottom to keep it from blowing so much. Works great. Tomorrow we will have some of the best seats in the house: the windows of our hotel room…right on the finish line!

(Our story will continue on Saturday, July 11^th, 2009, to prepare you for the2009 Race going through La Mongie on Sunday, July 12^th.)

UPDATE ON STAGE 6 OF 2009 TOUR

Stage 6 of the 2009 Tour de France on July 9^th gave us many surprises! First and unexpectedly in Spain we had a day of heavy rain that caused several crashes that affected some of the riders expected to do well this year! But the overall leaders remained the same at the end of the day. David Miller, along with two and sometimes three other riders, left the Peloton early on this 112.5 mile ride along the coast of Spain from Gerona to Barcelona. Eventually Miller broke away and did the last fifteen or so miles alone at the front. The Peloton caught him just before the finish at the summit of Mt. Montjuic. Suddenly from a sprint finish by the leading Peloton Thor Hushovd emerged taking first place for Stage 6! A very exciting and unexpected finish! The current leaders of the tour all finished in the first group and received the same times so none of the leaders have changed. Only one jersey changed today…the King of the Mountain!

Jersey Winners for Stage 6:

Maillot Jaune : Fabian Cancellara Maillot Vert : Mark Cavendish (by 1 point)

Maillot A Pois Rouges: Stepane Auge (new) Maillot Blanc : Tony Martin

Today’s finish was at the site of the 1992 Olympics, at the top of the Parc de Montjuic. Barcelona is rimmed with mountains and this one rises at the edge of the old part of the city of Barcelona separating it from the waterfront!

For more information about Barcelona go to my older blogs and find “Sunshine In Barcelona”, March 8, 2009. The story of my three days in Barcelona with my twin sister this spring.

I’ve decided to hold off another day for the next segment of the 2004 Tour but promise that tomorrow will bring more on that story.

THE FRENCH WIN STAGE 5!

Stage 5 today was a massive WIN for the FRENCH! Little Tommy Voeckler broke away with a group of six early in the race and against all odds managed to break from that group at the end and bring home the bacon!

In the 2004 Tour de France, Tommy was the favorite of everyone as he won the yellow jersey for ten days in a row! But, he has never won a Stage in the Tour de France until today! I remember the names of all of the top riders from the past years since we began to watch this race, but Tommy is the only one of the pack that I always watch for and pray that he has a place on the podium again! It was very exciting today to see him in the lead sprint group and then actually win the Stage!

Below is a story that I found on the Internet after today’s race; it says it all in my book. Written by Crazy Jane of Pro Cycling News on July 27, 2004 at the end of the 2004 Tour de France:

• Thomas Voeckler's Huge Ride on the Plateau de Beille. People, it just does not get better than Little Tommy Voeckler, does it? This little man happened into the Maillot Jaune by going with the break on a day when the peloton let it go long, and he made it look good; but that was only the beginning of the story. Ten days later, and despite every prediction, Ti Ti would still be in yellow, after having unpacked an apparently bottomlesssuitcase of courage in the Pyrenees. By slipping into the Maillot Jaune, Voeckler met his destiny head-on, and freaking LET IT ROLL, baby; finding grinta and deep reserves that he more than likely never knew were in there. In that 10 days, he became a hero, a heartthrob, and most importantly, a very impressive Tour de France bike racer.

Voeckler's ride up the Plateau de Beille, after getting dropped on every prior climb on the toughest mountain stage in this year's Tour, and then battling back to hang onto a slim lead of only 22 seconds was the most riveting moment in this year's tour. Watching Voeckler struggle towards the summit, I could barely look at my television, but when I did, he was climbing out of his skin, swerving with exhaustion, and working that 1000 yard stare to come to the line and raise one triumphant fist, and let me tell you that this race fan cried real tears. Heart like that is rare and beautiful, and Tommy?

And with that note I close today....more in tomorrow's posting about our 2004 story about our trip to follow the race where we fell in love with little Tommy Voeckler!

BASTILLE DAY IN TREIGNAC

Stage 3 of the 2009 Tour de France began in Marseille and ended 121.8 miles later in the city of La Grande-Motte. The biggest surprise of the day was the last minute sprint by Mark Cavendish and his Columbia teammates along with Lance Armstrong and Fabian Cancellara. Cavendish took the Stage but the biggest upset was Armstrong moving up from 10^th place to 3^rd place because of the his ability to realize when the mass group sprint was happening and take advantage of that move. The group sprinted to the line together and all received the same time; 39 seconds faster than the second group to cross the finish line!

For more information:

http://www.livestrong.com/lance-armstrong/tour-de-france-stage-3/

Stage 4 was the Team Time Trial in Montpellier. Five members of the team must complete the 24.2 mile course and their time is earned when the 5^th man crosses the finish line. Continuing wind affected many of the teams, caused a few of them to crash, but the overall winner was the Astana Team lead by Lance Armstrong and Alberto Contador. The question of the day was whether or not Lance would wear the Maillot Jaune jersey! Time wise he tied with Fabian Cancellera; but tradition has it that in case of a tie the current winner takes the prize.

For more information:

http://www.livestrong.com/lance-armstrong/tour-de-france-stage-4/

Stage 5 on July 8th will take us 121.8 miles from Le Cap d’Agde to Perpignan and the following day we will head south into Spain! For more information:

http://www.livestrong.com/lance-armstrong/tour-de-france-stage-5/

At the end of Stage 4 the right to wear the Jerseys tomorrow are:

Yellow Jersey: Fabian Cancellara (best time)

Green Jersey: Mark Cavendish (most points)

Polka-dot Jersey: Jussi Veikkanen (king of the mountain)

White Jersey: Tony Martin (best rider age 25 and under)

Top Team: (total points): Astana Team

Continuing our story in 2004; we head south of Limoges to the mountain town of Triegnic to watch the riders come through on a stage from Limoges to Saint-Flour.

Monday, July 12^th, 2004 Treignac, France

The weather was overcast but no rain as we began our nine hour drive to Treignac, a small mountain village in the south of France after a delightful three day visit in Dinan.

Along the way we passed pasture land with the white cattle known as Charolais; they provide France with it’s best beef. South of Nantes we found fields of sunflowers, Jim commented that “our girls have grown” since we last saw them over a week ago.. Soon there were acres or should I say hectors of vineyards.

Stopped in Cognac for gas and then back on the toll road that was full of Tour de France trucks for the race officials, team trucks and sponsor trucks; everyone was headed south!

An interesting note is that the French put black silhouettes of people (male and female) along the highway showing where people were killed in accidents; one for each victim. They serve as a warning that people should not drive when drinking and/or when they are tired. Not sure if the program is working but it does wake one up!

Arrived at our small Hotel du Luc in the mountains south of Limoges about five o’clock; only seven rooms and we paid a bit extra for a room with a view of the lake! After we settled in we purchased some food and drove to a picnic area on the lake and enjoyed the view while we ate our dinner.

The bike riders had a day of rest as they transferred to Limoges by airplane to continue their race tomorrow just east of Limoges before returning to Limoges for the road south on Wednesday that will go through Treignac.

Tuesday, July 13^th Treignac

I stayed at the hotel and enjoyed a day off while Jim spent the day chasing the race that was running 160 km from Saint-Leonard-de-Noblat to Gueret today. A long day of driving many miles, but very exciting for him. He was exhausted but full of exciting stories when he returned in the late afternoon.

We had a picnic dinner in our room while enjoying the views of the lake from our balcony.

Wednesday, July 14^th Treignac Bastille Day

Big day today! The race will be a long one today: 237 km; from Limoges to Saint-Flour. And….it comes right through our little mountain town of Treignac! So we’ll spend the day waiting and waiting and waiting….for the five minutes it will probably take for all of the riders to pass through the town.

But, we will have the fun of the caravan of sponsors that arrives about an hour before and hopefully we’ll be able to snag some of the goodies that they toss at us from the moving vehicles.

We found a spot on the road just above the climb that they make coming into town, hung our American Flag over the sign and then the wait began. Oh yes, it’s only noon so we’ve several long hours in the sunshine before they arrive. Our hotel is out of town so we had to arrive before they closed the roads. Everyone was in a very festive mood because of the Tour de France and also because today is Bastille Day, much like the fourth of July in USA. Met a family from Belgium and their English was good so we had a great time talking about both of our journeys to pass the time.

Hot and tired after our day at the races, we enjoyed a relaxing meal in the restaurant at the hotel. We then enjoyed watching the fireworks display on the lake in honor of Bastille Day. A fitting end to a great day in France!

AND THE LEADER IS.....

The 2009 Tour de France started on July 4^th with the top eighteen riders (including four American riders) finishing within a minute of Fabian Cancellara, the winner of this stage and both the yellow and the green jerseys! The overall leaders remained the same after Stage 2 was completed on July 5th For a list of the leaders go to: http://www.versus.com/tdf/standings/standings.php?ss=standings&t=ITG&e=0200

Stage 2 of the tour began at the front door of the Monte Carlo Casino in Monaco and ended 116.2 miles later in the medieval city of Brignoles, once the home of the counts of Provence. An exciting finish by Mark Cavendish of the Columbia Team gave him a Stage Win and the green jersey. For more information go to: http://www.versus.com/tdfstage2

Today is Stage 3 from Marseille to La Grande-Motte, 121.8 miles…

***********************************

The last of the four jerseys is the White Jersey (maillot blanc) that is awarded to the best place rider in the general classification who was 25 years old or under on January 1^st of the current year. Alberto Contador won the 2007 White Jersey.

For more information go to:

http://bikeracing.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_jerseys_of_the_tour_de_france

At the end of Stage 2 the right to wear the Jerseys are:

Yellow Jersey: Fabian Cancellara (best time)

Green Jersey: Mark Cavendish (most points)

Polka-dot Jersey: Jussi Veikkanen (king of the mountain)

White Jersey: Roman Kreuziger (best rider age 25 and under)

Top Team (total points): Astana Team

Our story continues in 2004 with a final day in Dinan before heading south to follow the 2004 Tour de France…..

Sunday, July 11^th, 2004: The weather is cool but dry; my coat feels good and I wore a sweatshirt under my windbreaker plus socks on my feet with my sandals. We carried umbrellas just in case; but never needed them.

Our first stop was the Castle and Keep, but since we’re in France it’s called the Chateau-Musee. The keep is the only part that is left of the huge Chateau. That part is a large building in good repair and housing a very interesting museum on several of the floors including one floor of weaving looms and delicate lace hats of the area. The traditional toilets of the medieval times were found strategically located in various levels. The entire building took about an hour to completely tour. We had great views of the city and valley from the rooftop of the Chateau.

Took a breather at the hotel and then headed over to take photos of the river area from the top of the Viaduct, built around 1850, that sends traffic directly to the newer part of the city. Then walked back a ways and down the steep cobblestone streets to the very old section of the city along the river. Passed on the Governor’s House and walked along the river to the home of an artist by the name of Yvonne Jean-Haffen. She was born in 1895 and died in 1993. This was her home and only opened a few years ago as a Museum. It’s almost as though she’s gone out for tea. Many of her original things are still in the home. We found one of the girls who spoke English and enjoyed sharing information about the artist and her home with us. We spent a very enjoyable hour touring the house from top to bottom.

Walking back to see the Governor’s House we were turned away as they had a concert in progress so we walked back to the hotel and the television for the bicycle race. Because of the weather, Jim decided not to try to drive to the race today. Good thing as on the television we saw that they had lots of rain today on their ride. I’m so glad that we decided to stay put and not drive to see the start of the race. We’re going to eat a light, early dinner as we have an early start tomorrow morning for our long drive to Treignac, southeast of Limoges. The bikers are flying south on their day off tomorrow. We will have heavy traffic on the road with all the vehicles with the Tour de France driving south. Soon the mountain rides will start and our Lance Armstrong should start to shine!

LE TOUR DE FRANCE

July 4^th, 2009: THE 2009 TOUR DE FRANCE BEGINS TODAY….

Enjoy the time trials today in Monaco before the road race begins tomorrow!

Check details at: http://www.letour.fr/us/homepage_courseTDF.html

For television coverage: check your local VERSUS NETWORK channel or their website at: http://www.versus.com/tdf/article/view/758/?ss=tv&tf=body_tdf_schedule.tpl

Our journey continues as we watch the 2004 Tour pass through Dinan……

Saturday, July 10^th, 2004 The Race Passes Thru Dinan

Slept in until about 6:30 am when we heard the city noises; but watched CNN until nearly 8 am before heading down for breakfast. The sun is shinning and it looks like a wonderful day for the bicycle riders. We have all morning to explore the town. We found Dinan first in 2000 on a day trip out of Saint-Malo. At that time we said we’d enjoy staying here…and here we are! We’re going out to walk and enjoy the shops before the city is full of tourists and Tour de France fans this afternoon.

Le Tour de France in 2004: When we arrived at the Tour de France area; the barriers were already up and the crowd was beginning to stake out the best spots. I saw a woman with the same type of digital camera that I have and found that she spoke English. She was from New York and had lived in Claremont California a few years back. We talked for quiet awhile and found that they had also stayed at Mere Poulard in Le Mont Saint-Michel on the same night we were there. They had the expensive dinner at the hotel and were very disappointed at the quality of the food. So, guess it was good that we passed on the dinner. When I told her the breakfast was not only reasonably priced but excellent; she was sorry that they had decided not to eat there after their experience with dinner as they had problems finding breakfast elsewhere. We exchanged information on the restaurants in Dinan.

I found a great spot and Jim went back to the hotel to pick up some things to keep us busy for the next three hours. I had a French lady on the right of me who was busy eating her lunch and was very quiet. We had a low wall made of stone that was the perfect height for sitting on and we could put our feet on the barrier to reserve our space. Soon there was a French family on the right of me. I kept my feet on the barrier, tied my jacket on it also and spread my things next to me to keep a space for Jim. Didn’t think he’d ever get back! He finally arrived as the caravan was getting started.

The Caravan is a series of vehicles decorated by the companies that sponsor the race and give away items by throwing them at the crowds as they drive past at about twenty to thirty miles per hour! It’s faster in the countryside and a bit slower in the cities. This year there are two hundred vehicles with forty two different brand names represented. The caravan will take about forty-five minutes to pass through each town and over the course of the race they will distribute eleven million gifts to the people standing along the routes. They generally arrive about an hour before the bicycles.

Jim purchased a packet with a hat, shirt and tiny bear for the Tour de France from a boutique truck that had items for sale. Jim had to go chase the girl down to get the hat that was missing from the package! Soon they were crowding in; Jim stood up to get a better look down the road and instantly a Frenchman was standing on the wall behind him. We had a Scottish man and his son that had already jumped up on the wall when our French lady on the left made the mistake of standing up! Soon the wall space was gone but we had the best space next to the metal barrier. The caravan arrived and started throwing things out…we had a cheese item land right at our feet. It was fun to watch people scrambling for items. Across the street we saw the local Mayor in a suit and tie…he was standing just like we were, holding his spot on the barrier. He was holding out a flag that said Dinan/Tour de France/1995. Talking to the Frenchman behind us he said that the race had ended in Dinan in 1995 and that was the flag used at the finish line.

Since the Mayor had his flag out; I got out our American Flag and draped it across the barrier in front of us. It was nearing time for the bicycle riders to arrive and suddenly a French policeman crossed the street and blocked our view. The French women became alive….she started spreading out our American flag and yelling at the policeman to move because the Americans had come a long way to see their American rider. From that point on they were very friendly and communicative in broken English and we in broken French. Amazing how much one can understand when some effort is put forth. Eventually the policeman shrugged his shoulders and move!

Soon the riders were there…lots of yelling and clapping…then they were gone. Lots of fun and everyone was in good spirits as we dispersed back into the town. It had looked like rain for at least an hour before the riders arrived; but only clouds. Later in the race the riders did finally have rain for the end of their race. We stayed dry with intermittent sunshine. We spent the remainder of the afternoon climbing up to the top of the clock tower for a view of the countryside and village after we finished watching the race on television in our room. From there we ate an early omelet dinner about 6 pm and then church at 7 pm.

After church we walked the Ramparts and discovered the really old part of the city down by the Port of Dinan. The city was originally built along the river in medieval times and in later years moved up the hill behind a wall during the wars. The city did not sustain any damage during either of the World Wars and is in very good condition with many half-timbered buildings. Really quite a hike, I thought it was about forty five degrees while walking it back to our hotel but Jim said no, only about a fifteen degree incline. But we enjoyed it so much we plan to go back tomorrow and do more exploring. We thought we were staying in the old town but found that there is much more than we’d realized. If you are traveling in this area; plan to stay several days, as it’s really wonderful and so there is so much to do and see!

ST MALO & DINAN...Travel Day

Today: July 3^rd, 2009

Check out the map (see slideshow) of this year’s Tour de France that begins tomorrow on July 4^th in the city of Monaco and also on their website:

http://www.letour.fr/

The first day will be individual time trials in Monaco, a distance of 9.3 miles.

July 5^th the riders will leave from Monaco and ride west 116.2 miles from Monaco to Brignoles in Provence. For more information about the race on your computer go to: http://www.versus.com/cyclysm and for your local VERSUS NETWORK…check your local listings for the VS television channel and/or other sport networks in your area.

Back to our story:

Friday, July 9^th, 2004 Dinan in Brittany

We had a wonderful breakfast this morning in Hotel Mere Poulard’s dining room; the French continental variety but with cheeses added and very soft breads. The weather is overcast but we managed to get our luggage to the car parked on the causeway with only minor sprinkles. Jim went out last night at nearly 11 pm and shot some wonderful videos of the Monastery all lit up by floodlights at night. The wind was blowing so hard that he could hardly hold the camera still enough to focus.

We’re only moving to Dinan today; about an hour’s journey at the most. So, we’ve decided to take the coastal route from Normandy into Brittany and enjoy the morning views since it is definitely raining lightly off and on. This area was part of England at one time and retains a flavor of its own. For one, all of the roads are free; and that is unusual in the rest of France. The English love to holiday here since there is a definite pride in their distinct Breton culture.

The coastal route from Le Mont St. Michel through the towns of Cancale, Pointe du Grouin and the walled city of St.Malo provides spectacular views of a rugged coastline with many bays chocked full of small boats anchored at rest. We saw several restored stone windmills but most of them have been converted into tall, round homes. They are located all along the coast; originally built to bring the water inland for the crops. The fields are mostly wheat and corn. Open fields hold horses and cattle, many of the cattle are the white Charolais that are famous for the quality of their meat. Love the single wire that keeps them from straying from their pasture. We hear that they are trained when they are very young to respect the wire as it may be electric! Farmhouses have hand-lettered signs advertising fresh vegetables for sale. Cidre, either brut (dry) or doux (sweet), the locally produced alcoholic drink of the Normandy and Brittany areas is also advertised. We see some thatched roofs, just a few, and in the town half-timbered buildings with the second story and above protruding out as they were originally taxed for the square footage on the ground level.

Another interesting feature of this area is the tide; large bays will be bone dry at times during the day and sometimes an area doesn’t receive water for weeks at a time. The boats are lying on the bottom of the ocean floor waiting for the next tide. There are large (tug boat size) vessels that appear to be made of aluminum with large rubber tires for dry times.

We drove several cow-paths to the edge and found wonderful hiking trails that take you right along the beach for miles at a time. When we reached Dinard we could look back and see the walled city of Saint-Malo rising out of the ocean on the cliffs. When we stayed there in 2002 we actually got wet while walking on top of the walls at night when the tides came in. By the way, we have perfect reception on the cell phone in this area. Once, while Jim was out of the car on the walking path along the coast I checked the phone…perfect…except it was 2:34 am in California! Sitting there enjoying the view I can see why it is called the Emerald Coast; even on a cloudy day it sparkles.

We arrived in Dinan about 1 pm and found our little Hotel Arvor in the center of the upper part of the old city; we will be enjoying this home for three night. The bike race will come through the town about 3 pm on Saturday; and on Sunday Jim may go to see the start of the race at Lamballe; only a short drive of about an hour from here. Monday we will head south again.

Must tell you about our dinner this evening; we took Rick Steves’ advice and enjoyed a gourmet meal in Dinan at L’Auberge du Pelican. We started with a Kir; then a consommé (Jim had fish and I had vegetable); for our premier course Jim had Salmon in O’seille (sorrel) sauce, with rice and shredded vegetables. I had sliced chicken in Cream Sauce, sliced apples soaked in Calvados (apple brandy) and a few noodles. For dessert we each had two scoops of real ice cream! Could hardly walk when we left but what a way to go!

GIVERNY & LE MONT SAINT-MICHEL

“The Green Jersey (French: maillot vert) is the jersey worn by the leader of the Tour de France’s points classification since its introduction in 1953.” The color was originally chosen because the sponsor manufactured lawn mowers! “The green jersey classification is calculated by adding up the points collected in the stage, minus penalty points. Points are rewarded for the first cyclists to cross the finish-line or the intermediate sprint line, and for the cyclists with the fastest times in the prologue or individual time trials according to a set scheme.”

For more information go to:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_jersey

For more information on Lance Armstrong and his new team: ASTANA

Go to: http://www.astana-cyclingteam.com/

Back to our adventure in 2004………..

Wednesday, July 7^th, 2004 Around Paris to Giverny and Monet’s Gardens

We experienced our first day of real rain. It was one of those rainy days where you can generally dash here and there but need an umbrella for a long walk. We only had about a two-hour drive by toll way to our next hotel; so we decided to have another serendipity day on the local roads which turned into a four hour trip. As navigator, my job is to read the maps and road signs. That’s great if Jim slows down here and there so that I can focus long enough to read the signs.

We were doing fine until we reached the large town of Mantes la Jolie on the Seine River. Back and forth we went on one road after another. No sun for directions so we were depending on the maps and signs only. At one point we cross the Seine River and then I knew we’d gone the wrong way. Turned around and found the reason for our error: God wanted us to see a spectacular cathedral that we would never have seen had we been able to find our road! Spotted the spires as we crossed back over the Seine River and could only think about getting to the church! Found it, parked, took photos and then decided to go inside. The organist was playing a magnificent song, a Bach Cantata; and the interior was as striking as the exterior. On a side table we found a black and white photo taken in spring of 1944, on May 30^th. The entire area was destroyed except for the church. On the river we saw one of the Cruise Boats that take tourists for a week long cruise up and down the Seine River; it was tied up so this was definitely a stop for them.

Back in the car we magically found our road instantly and headed towards our destination of Giverny. Giverny was the final home of the artist Monet and has a lovely garden; his second most loved occupation after painting.

Our hotel is old and quaint. We’re in the attic or as some would say a garret; on the top floor with great views and a slanted ceiling. The bed is soft and lumpy but the ambience is the fun part of it. We do have a television, telephone which has allowed me to connect to the Internet (they had to turn the phone on at the reception desk) and a full private bathroom all in one room. Our toilette has been inside its own closet in the last two hotels with the sink, bidet and tub in the second closet. The rainstorm, thunder, lightening and heavy rain; started just as we got our luggage inside the hotel. The race today is north of here and they are riding in the rain! We had a fun welcome to the hotel. Friends in Florida had sent an email to the hotel manager for us. Thanks Dave & Janice….it made our day special

Jim went to the museum to see work by the American Artists who were here before WW I; American Museum of Impressionist Art. Bowers Museum in Santa Ana (where Jim is a docent when we’re home) has many paintings by Guy Rose who painted many of them here in Giverny. After the bike race was over we drove over to visit the Monet Gardens and home. Jim had been here before and delighted in showing me all the special parts especially the pond with the lily pads. It was raining when we started and the sun broke through the clouds just as we entered the garden. Didn’t have time to see his home; but we did go down the road to the village church and cemetery for a viewing of his grave. The graveyard also held a joint grave of seven British Airmen who died together in WW II when their bomber was shot out of the sky in 1944. They were buried together here in the Giverny cemetery. The stone listed each of their names and some have verses engraved from their families.

Today’s race was a team event and Lance’s US Postal Team came in first…Lance will be wearing the yellow jersey tomorrow as the overall leader time-wise! Happy days are here again! At least for one day!

Thursday, July 8^th, 2004 Normandy Coast Drive

We were off to the Normandy Coast after a truly continental breakfast in Giverny: bread, jam, some butter and coffee or tea. We’re never quite sure what the hotel will offer when we enter the breakfast room. This morning Jim requested coffee for both of us, we received a pot for two and then he requested tea for himself; leaving the pot for me. It held two cups of coffee! It was not our best hotel. I found a spring in my back during the night plus Jim felt that his fish soup came from a pot that had the fish in the bottom and they kept adding water…he never found any fish in his bowl. I had a complete salad that was great except the lettuce wasn’t washed very well and I could feel the bits of gravel in my mouth as I chewed. The cider was excellent! The village only had two other places to eat that we found; so there wasn’t much choice. After dinner I was looking out our bedroom window and saw the manager go sit on the stoop in front of the gate. I thought he was out for a smoke; but within a short time a motorcycle came up and delivered a pizza for his dinner! Jim said this was definitely a journal entry.

Overcast weather as we started towards the toll road. We decided to take the more expensive but shorter route today. It was a fee for the road to Caen and then free beyond that point; same quality of road. For those who want to know the cost; it was about one hundred miles to Caen from Vernon (near Giverny) and the cost was about ten euro.

By Caen it had started to rain and we had rain all the way along the coast until we reached Le Mont St. Michel. We stopped in Avranches at a grocery store for gasoline and also to purchase large black trash bags to put our luggage in for getting from the parking area to the hotel. We passed a touring group of five old pre-WW II automobiles, probably built somewhere in the late 1920’s to 1930’s all from England. Some of the body types were open and the rain was torrential at that time. We decided to stop at a restaurant on the causeway out to the Monastery that we’d eaten at before. Open twenty-four hours a day; good food and reasonable. It was nearly two o’clock and still raining so we decided to have our main meal of the day. Jim had a wonderful plate of fish with French green beans and I enjoyed roasted chicken and fries. Delicious food and also the rain stopped while we were there.

We arrived at the parking area for Le Mont St Michel and carried our luggage into the village walls and found the Hotel La Mere Poulard; our home for the night. It is located in the small village at the base of the Monastery. There are no cars allowed past the wall; roads are more paths than streets. But, since we had reservations we were allowed to park in lot #1; closest to the gates. We still had a piece to walk in the very strong wind that nearly knocked you down occasionally. After we finish watching the race on television today we will get out and walk through the village and enjoy the sights again. We toured the Monastery when we were here for the day in 2002; so we will spend the time exploring everything else. We have to move the car this evening before the tide comes in as most of the parking lot is covered with water for the night. The photo that is in the slideshow was taken on our approach to the Monastery after our stop for lunch.

The race today is headed south and will go through the area that we just left. But, if we’d stayed around to see them we would have arrived here very late; we changed our plans and will first view the race in Dinan. They will end their race today in Chartres.

The sun looks like it trying to come out. It’s nearly 4 pm and the sun doesn’t set until nearly 11 pm this far north during the summer months. It will be a short night!

CASTLES, WINE & SUNFLOWERS

“The polka dot jersey (French: maillot á pois rouges) is awarded for the best climber during the mountain stages of the Tour de France cycle race. The “King of the Mountains” wears a white jersey with red dots”. At the top of each climb in the Tour there are points awarded to the riders who are first over the top. The climbs are divided into categories based on their difficulty. The rules have changed many times since the classification was originally started in 1933. The current point system was last changed in 2004. For more information go to:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polka_dot_jersey

For more information about the race on television: http://www.versus.com/cyclysm and on your local VERSUS NETWORK…check your local listings for the channel in your area.

Back to our adventure in 2004:

Monday, July 5^th, 2004 Wine Country

Well it was an exciting soccer game but Greece beat Portugal with only one goal scored; very exciting but disappointing at the same time. We headed out to find the Petrus winery. Since their wine is very expensive; $300 and up a bottle, they are not looking for tourists; this we knew from the 2002 trip. We’d remembered a vague description of the area where we’d found it before; a difficult task then requiring two trips and lots of driving roads between vineyards. I checked my old journals (there’s a reason I load them on my laptop before leaving home) and discovered it was located near Pomerol. After about half an hour of driving we located the new building that was under construction in 2002; a beautiful old looking new building that appears to be used for very select wine buyers. Other than recognizing the buildings we’d have never known it was Petrus except for the name “Jean Pierre Mouiex” on the building. Jim knows that that is the family name of the vintner. The name “Petrus” that had been on the old building in 2002 was gone. Took some photos and then headed by the back roads north.

Our first stop was at a supermarket for gas, much cheaper than on the highway…only 1.03 euros per liter. Then into the store for cell phone time card and some groceries for snacks on the road and a bottle of Windex and paper towels for the bugs we’re getting on the windshield. Back on the road we headed North on a “red road” that should be rather direct and free. Opps….it became the morning of “Deviations”. Road Repairs! After about two hours and one hundred kilometers we were only about thirty miles from where we had spent the night. Back to another supermarket for more maps and then we headed for the toll way and on to Chinon where we had our reservations for the evening.

We’re enjoying the quaintness of Chinon again. No television in the hotel so Jim walked down to the local bar and watched the end of the bike race with the local Frenchmen. We plan to go back into town this evening for a dinner at the Creperie recommended by Rick Steves. It’s only a short walk from the hotel. We’re in the western end of the Loire Valley that has all the French Chateaus. Chinon was the castle where Joan of Arc recognized the disguised Dauphin, the future King of France, Charles VII; not much of the castle left except for the Keep, but there is lots of history connected with this place.

Tuesday, July 6^th: Loire Valley and Chartres

Up and out after a very continental French breakfast…not much other than bread, juice, jam and coffee; we headed for the self service Laundromat in Chinon. After several hours and about fifteen euros we were back on the road with clean clothes. Our evening yesterday was very quiet with no television in the room. At dinner we met a very nice American woman and her three young daughters.. They were traveling on their own, Mom was driving. The husband had been with them for the first week in Germany and then had to return home to Florida. She continued through Italy, Switzerland and now in France. They had five more days in Paris before flying home. She enjoyed talking with adults for an hour. A Spanish teacher, the language was easier for her than most, but she was still having difficulty with French. I forgot to mention that yesterday we were again able to enjoy the sunflowers as the road to Chinon meandered through field after field of yellow sunflowers! As we go north we will lose the sunflowers and return to them in two weeks when we venture south again. These fields looked much more French than the Spanish sunflowers! (That’s a joke!)

Tonight we are enjoying the room with a view of the Cathedral in Chartres, about an hour west of Paris. It’s always very nice to see this beautiful church again. This is our second time to stay overnight in Chartres and the fifth time we’ve been through the church. We always seem to find something new about it for esoteric reasons. This time Jim showed me the Labyrinth, a medieval pilgrimage within the church. The bells have a beautiful ring and we will enjoy them even in the middle of the night. Several crashes today on the Tour de France; but our Lance was not one of them. He’s holding his own and will not really shine until the mountains.

A television in the room today was somewhat better for Jim than a trip to the local bar. We also reached a friend by cell phone who is staying in the south of France with friends to watch the race. Jim plans to meet up with them on one of the mountain days towards the 15^th of July or so. Our weather seems to be holding, lots of clouds but today was between 73 and 85 degrees, with sunshine, can’t ask for more. So glad we were in Spain earlier; they’ve had terribly hot weather since we left. We’re doing well on the gasoline by buying it at the Supermarche. Kinda like going to the gas station at Costco. Sometimes requires cash but cheaper per liter than at regular gas stations. NOTE: It’s Wednesday and the bells didn’t ring all night, the last ring was about 10:30 pm and first ring today was at 7 am.