the tour starts climbing and so do we

It's an early start for us as we drive a couple of hours to Blaye-les-mines for the start of Stage 11 of the Tour de France. We wake to rain outside our windows - no surprise after having my hotel room lit by lightening for most of the night. We park as soon as we arrive at the village but find we are still a couple of kilometres walk from the start. After we start to walk, Kim and Toby head back to bring the car closer while Mum, Dad and I keep walking. It was drizzling most of the morning but it as umbrellas up when we hit the start line, and it didn't stop.
After watching the caravan come through (my umbrella interfering with my efforts to get any freebies) I went to explore away from the start line and came across the team buses. I walk down until I found BMC and saw Cadel signing autographs on the other side of the road, so raced (as much as one can in rain, thongs and a crowd) up to get on the other side. By the time I got there he'd gone back inside the bus but I joined the small group of Aussie's hanging near the bus. The BMC crew was quite friendly and a few Aussies dressed up as Steve Irwin and another one in a crocodile suit were making conversation and attracting the attention of the roaming media. Cadel had apparently promised the fans coffee earlier so the crew came out with little cups of coffee for us. Very nice really. I stood there for a while and watched them all get organised - the crew double checking the bikes and organising the team cars - and then the riders, one by one, came out. Once Cadel headed for the start line I popped next door to the HTC Highroad bus and waited for Matty Goss to head out.
At the start line the riders are introduced as the sign in but the presentation is in French so it was easy to tune out. Then the rides all bunched up for the start. Despite the ride ahead (167.5km) and a few mountains, not to mention the fact it hadn't stopped raining since we arrived, the riders all seemed very relaxed. Happily chatting with each other and waving to the crowd as they waited for the start.
It was great to see the riders close up, not that there's much to see. These riders are tiny. Nothing much of them in the arms or the legs. 

The Crikey Cadel Aussie's with the BMC crew

Cadel at the start of Stage 11

After looking in vain for Kim and Toby at the start line after the riders had left we headed back in the direction of the car. Turns out they had been blocked off so left the car where it was and watched the stage from up there. We then headed off to our next attraction for the day - Rocamadour. This village was suggested to me by Judy at work and I have two words for her - thank you. After two hours in the car, the sight of the village sticking out from the mountain was well worth it. After pizza for lunch/afternoon tea/dinner, we drove to the base of the village and found a narrow street with shops either side, with more buildings and the chateau towering overhead. It reminded me a bit of Salamanca in that it is very touristy, however it's easy to overlook that to enjoy where we are.
After browsing through the shops, Dad, Toby and I started the climb up to the chateau. It was a fair climb, and 2euro to get to the chateau once we reached the top but the view from the top was spectacular. I won't bother trying to describe it and will instead post a couple of pictures. There is a sound and light show each night but if we'd waited for it to get dark to see it we wouldn't have made it back to Revel until midnight. As it was we had an ice cream (Bounty flavoured, yum) and drove back, arriving at the hotel at 10pm.

Rocamadour