Why I love le Tour

[caption id="attachment_2530" align="aligncenter" width="584" caption="Cadel poses with Aussie fans at the 2011 event"][/caption]

If you've read my most recent posts, are privy to my Facebook status or tune into my Twitter account, you'll know I'm a bit of a Tour de France fan.  I'm no cycling junkie and not even the biggest Tour tragic in my family, but I eagerly follow along for those three weeks in July through the time trials, the mountains and that final ride into Paris. (I even changed my blog title to yellow in honour of the yellow jersey...yep, sad)

Sports fans will attest le Tour is one of the greatest sporting events. Although most sports fans will cheer on - and then analyse the result of - a trolley race down the supermarket aisle a so we can't take their word for it. But what about those people who pay little attention to sport, let alone cycling, for the remaining 49 weeks in the year, but come le Tour time are well-versed in phrases such as peloton, breakaway and GC-contender? What is it about le Tour de France that wins so many hearts and late-night viewers (for those in the Southern Hemisphere)?

A Gentleman's Game

Example: Stage 14 2012. Last Sunday British rider Bradley Wiggins is the overall leader in the yellow jersey. His main rival and pre-event favourite Cadel Evans is about three minutes behind in the standings. Everybody is riding along happily with Evans gets a flat tyre because some idiot (I'm being restrained) has thrown carpet tacks on the road. A little way along he gets another one, putting him well behind his main competitors. Wiggins, riding ahead in a group of riders, slows down and effectively halts the race. They coast along until Evans catches back up. By the time they crossed the finish line, Evans and Wiggins were riding side-by-side (a bit cute really). Now why would Wiggins wait? Why not take the opportunity to increase his lead? "I thought it was the honourable thing to do," he said post-race. "Nobody wants to benefit from someone else's misfortune." Keep in mind that at the time he slowed, Wiggins didn't know about the tacks.

This behaviour isn't unique to Wiggins. In 2003 Jan Ullrich waited for eventual winner Lance Armstrong when Armstrong's handlebar got caught in strap of a spectator's bag on a mountain climb. In what other sport would this happen? This really is a Gentleman's Game, perhaps except for when they line the edge of the road for a pee break.



The broadcast

The Tour de France is one of the most-watched sporting events. My TDF broadcast experience comes thanks to SBS in Australia and ITV in Scotland. It's largely the same broadcast team. I feel safe in saying that no broadcast team, in any sport, does the job like this crew. The scenery is stunning, thanks to the roving army of helicopters following the race and the commentators, lead by Phil Liggett, make the event accessible to anyone. They explain terms, tactics, history, local knowledge...the lot. If you're watching in Australia you get a bonus in Gabriel Gate's food snippets. This broadcast, with its aerial shots of medieval castles, chateaus and great mountains, is more likely to inspire a trip to the French countryside than bellowing from a couch-bound, beer drinking sports fanatic.

Le Tour Live

Just as you don't need to be a sports or cycling fan to enjoy the broadcast, neither is a requirement to enjoy it in action. In fact, the only prerequisite might be patience. Having stood road-side for a few stages now, I'm don't think half the people around me are mad sports fans. Same as half the crowd at the Melbourne Cup wouldn't know which way to face on a horse. Town stages have a carnival atmosphere, with music, roaming dress-up characters and freebies. Along the course, it's a friendly community of dedicated fans in motor homes and drive-by tourists who thought they might as well see what the fuss is about. Over a few hours everybody makes nice with their neighbours, enjoys the publicity caravan and relaxes in the countryside. Eventually the bikes come and a few minutes later people go home.



I could go on. There are so many reasons to love le Tour: Lance Armstrong's inspiring post-cancer wins, Cadel's victory as the first Australian winner, seeing Tasmanian riders compete in the ultimate cycling race, George Hincapie riding on with a broken collarbone to finish...

In a few days it will be over for another year and I can go back to paying no attention to professional cycling. But before that I'm going to scream like a maniac cheer as the riders travel down the Champs Elysees in Paris....

Le Tour Day 2: Getting a taste for VIP

Enjoying the 2012 Le Tour prologue in the VIP section was an experience. But in a lot of ways it isn't the Le Tour experience I'd expected. I was prepared to stand by the course for hours, brave the sun, ration my food and drink supplies and wait and wait to cheer on the riders. Instead I had free food and drink on hand, a TV screen to watch the coverage, a seat, shade and clean toilets on hand. (If you've ever attended any mass event, you know how important this is.)

So when my second day of Le Tour action rolled around, I was looking forward to slumming it like a true fan. Then a friendly Green Edge PR girl offered me another VIP pass.

Stage 1 started in Liege and finished at Seraing, about 15km away. So I intended to watch the start, then catch a train to Seraing to see the finish. On my way to check out the team buses again I ran into another Aussie. Hugh was also looking for the Green Edge bus so we went hunting together. The crew were really friendly and appreciated the support.

Today's course did a loop through the city so Hugh and I watched the riders go by once, then raced over the footbridge and saw them a second time on their way out of town. We then spent a few hours walking around Liege before heading to Seraing, which was were the VIP section was.

After 10 minutes on the train it stopped on the tracks. There were no buildings. Just tracks and grass. But apparently this was the stop for Seraing. After walking across the tracks, around the back of some houses, through a field and a car park, we found a shuttle waiting to take people up to the finish line. You gotta give Le Tour organisers some credit. They know how to put on an event.

I was inside the VIP section when Dave, Nick and Luke - the Sydney boys I met the day before - spotted me from across the road. I managed to wrangle three extra passes so I wasn't the only one enjoying VIP for the second day in a row. There were a lot more crew in the area today. Yesterday they were kept at the bus all day, but with the riders all out on the course today they had nothing to do. The families of some of the Green Edge riders were there too, as I found out when I asked Stuart O'Grady's son who his favourite rider was and he responsed "my Dad".

[caption id="attachment_2454" align="aligncenter" width="960" caption="The Green Edge VIP Aussie fan club: Dave, Luke, Me, Hugh and Nick."][/caption]

At the end of the race we walked around the media section (these VIP passes are gold) and watched Fabian Cancellara being interviewed. He wouldn't come over to sign some autographs which was disappointing. We also met Scott Sunderland - an Aussie cyclist and former Tour rider who is working for SBS.

Back in Liege I joined the boys, and some team and crew members from Astana, to watch the Euro 12 final betweel Italy and Spain. It wasn't much of a contest.

Le Tour VIP style

The “grass is greener” cliché is often just that. A cliché. Except when you’re at Le Tour de France and that grass is a VIP area. Then it is not only green, it is spacious, air-conditioned and comes with free food and drinks.

The first day of the 2012 Le Tour couldn't be more spectator friendly. The prologue is an individual time trial through the Belgium city of Liege. (Le Tour de France often touches into other countries.) The city itself is easy to reach by train, the course big enough to find a decent vantage point and the action continuous for about 3.5 hours.

I left the hostel fully prepared for the day: Aussie flag, sunscreen, permanent marker, food, water etc. The first item became the most valuable of the lot.

At 10am - two hours before the caravan was due - people were already claiming their spot, looking pretty comfortable in their camping chairs on the edge of the course. When the time came, I found a spot under a tree to wait for the caravan.

The Tour de France publicity caravan preceeds the riders for the entire event. Every road the cyclists ride along, the caravan was there two hours before. It's a 45-minute parade of floats and freebies. T-shirts, hats, bags, lollies, cakes, water etc. My haul was rather poor compared to last year. But it's difficult on your own. Some freebies were handed out right on the fence (where I was), others were thrown over my head. It really is a team sport.

After the caravan I checked out the team buses. I stopped at the Orica Green Edge bus for a while, watching the crew prepare. Green Edge is the Australian team - the first at Le Tour. The riders are mostly Australian, with a couple of exceptions. Matt Goss, a Tassie boy, is the team leader. I was chatting to another Aussie, Chris, who was also decked out in appropriate supporter attire, when Dan, the Green Edge cameraman offered us VIP passes in exchange for us doing a quick cheer on camera. Best. Deal. Ever.

[caption id="attachment_2445" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Chris and I earning out VIP passes. Chris scored another pass for his wife Lyn."][/caption]

The VIP area was 250 metres from the finish line, and when we arrived, practically empty. We pulled up a chair right on the fence, grabbed a free beer and enjoyed some sushi. We didn't have to battle crowds, stand for hours to claim a spot, or risk losing it if we went for food or drink. In short, it rocked.

The best feature was the live coverage on the TV. It meant we knew what was going on. We saw rider after rider whizz by, but without the TV we would have had no idea how everyone was standing.

Green Edge sent a few more decorated Aussies into the VIP area, including three guys from Sydney. Nick, Dave and Luke are following most of the tour, including the mountain stages, which I think are the most fun.

After the last rider, Aussie favourite Cadel Evans, crossed the line, we enjoyed champagne and macaroons as the crowd disappeared. The boys got talking to a Belgium guy, Mark, they'd met earlier, who was walking by. He invited us for beers so off we went. Mark was a little odd, but gave us a good introduction to Belgium beers. One of them had a alcohol percentage of 11.3%. I didn't finish that.

[caption id="attachment_2446" align="aligncenter" width="584" caption="Sydney boys Nick, Luke and Dave with our Belgium mate Mark."][/caption]

Noticed my lack of pictures? The day was slightly dampened by having my bag stolen in the evening, with my camera in it. This is why travel insurance is never a waste of money.

Last day in Prague: Going solo again

My last day in Prague was a day of mixed feelings. I was super excited to be heading to Belgium. Just when it seemed like my trip couldn’t get any more fun, I still had two days at Le Tour de France awaiting me. On the other hand, today was my last day with my parents. They fly home tomorrow.

On days I have to travel somewhere, regardless of what time my flight/train/bus is, I can't really relax. I'm always looking at the time. Keeping that in mind, today we decided just to explore the Castle. Prague Castle is the biggest ancient castle in the world and is a suitably imposing sight. Sitting on top of a hill overlooking the city, it's the most distinctive landmark in the skyline. And the most creepy.

 

The grounds of the castle are free to enter. You can buy a pass into some of the buildings. With only a few hours to spend there, we bought a short pass giving us access to the Basilica of St. Vitus, St George's Basilica, Old Royal Palace and Golden Lane. While the Basilica has a very medieval look, the surrounding buildings are painted candy pink, yellow and green. They look like doll houses.

St.Vitus Basilica has the most incredible stain glass windows. There were a few wedding photographs being taken inside, although only for promotion. The bride was wearing converse shoes under her dress.





I'm always amazed at the size of some of the buildings. Just how much space did people need back then? I guess the same can be asked of modern houses now. They just keep getting bigger and bigger.

At 3pm Mum and I watched the changing of the guards. What a job. The "hone how was your day" conversation in the evening must get a bit repetitive.



That afternoon I farewelled my parents at the train station and caught the City Night Line again, this time to Cologne in Germany. I had an early morning change onto the ICE train to Liege in Belgium.

From the street: A walking tour in Prague

I’m a budget traveller at heart. The cheaper I travel, the longer I can travel. So the word “free” gets me excited. A popular little trend in Europe is free walking tours. They are held in most major cities; I’ve done two in Barcelona and one in Edinburgh. There were none offered in Italy – too much money to be made I guess.

The largest company to offer these tours is New Europe – it organises them in 14 cities. Curious as to why this company would offer free tours when so many people are willing to fork out big time for such things? Well there is a catch. The tours are free, however the guides rely on tips for income. The best tours I’ve done have been this type – you get (usually) young, energetic, knowledgeable guides, who are entirely aware that if they don’t do a good job, they don’t make rent.

Our guide today was Karel, a native Czech. It makes sense but it isn’t always the case. While most guides have studied history or something similar, Karel has a degree in psychology and drama therapy. The latter made for an interesting show. Our tour was three hours, with a 25-minute break. We spent most of the time in the Old Town before moving into the Jewish Quarter. I’m not even going to touch on what we learnt, but it covered a lot of history. But Karel, ever so entertaining, didn’t make us feel like we were back in school.

I have to add a note here about how amusing I find foreign English sometimes. Karel explained how as well as a birthday, Czech’s also celebrate their name day. “You go to pub two times,’’ he said. Karel also described the end of the Velvet Revolution (when the Czech Republic and Slovakia were formed) as the Velvet Divorce. He was clever.





We finished the tour overlooking the Prague Castle and then walked back to the Communism Museum, which we had passed on the tour. The entrance to the Museum is flanked by a McDonald’s and a casino. Seeing that alone is worth a visit to the museum. After visiting China and Vietnam I’m well aware of Communism and its effects on a population, but it’s still hard to take in. However, unlike China and Vietnam, the Czech Republic fought for its freedom.

 

Later, in search of dinner, we walked crossed the river and enjoyed another hearty Czech meal, this time on the other side of the river. We came across a statue Karel had told us about. Two guys peeing into a map of the Czech Republic. I'm sure art critics have a field day with this.

 We walked back home over the Charles Bridge.

 

Prague: Weird buildings, good food and sex machines

Prague, like a few of my destinations on this trip, has intrigued me for a while. Yet, I really didn’t know anything about it. When our train arrived on Tuesday morning, I had no idea what to expect. Would the former communist country fit the stereotype I have of Russia? Is it more like its closer neighbours in Eastern Europe? Has a more cosmopolitan influence crept over? Or would everybody be eating McDonalds and drinking Starbucks?

Prague is the end of the line for one of the City Night Line routes. The overnight train runs between several countries. Our train from Zurich travelled through Germany, stopping at Berlin, before entering the Czech Republic. My first great relief, when we pulled into the main station after travelling overnight on the City Night Line from Zurich, was it was cheap. After barely 24-hours in Switzerland, I was conscious of my bank balance.

We didn’t get organised in time to make a walking tour I’m interested in, so we decided to leave that for the next day and instead explore the city. When we reach the river, the little peddle boats cruising about in the fading sun looks fun, so we jump on. It costs us 250CHZ – or about $12.50 AUD – for an hour. From the water we can take in the weird city that Prague is.



The buildings are colourful and the architecture rather medieval. It’s a gothic San Francisco. The lamp posts are eerie, there are spires on nearly every building and the statues are just as creepy. I’ve never seen another city like it. But it fits with the appeal of this mysterious place.

We walk into the Old Town, although to me, the whole place looks pretty old. I can’t get over the number of tourists. Everywhere. Perhaps they’ve followed us from Venice?

We’d skipped lunch after a late breakfast so were famished. But we are in the right country to be satisfied. We take a seat at the first restaurant we find. Mum and I start with a hearty potato soup – no blender used here. Chunks of potato. I wipe the bowl clean using the free bread that seems to be a standard across Europe. For mains I chose the roasted leg of lamb with a red wine sauce. It’s service with tradition Czech bread dumplings. Dad’s meal included the potato dumplings, another Czech staple. The meals here are filling. Lots of meat and starch. But for a long time most of the population didn’t know where there next meal was coming from, so they made each one count.

When looking up a map of the city, an intriguing museum came to my attention. On our way to the Old Town Square we walked past it. At only 200 CHZ each we decided to check it out and stepped into the Sex Machines Museum. Interested? I was.

The opening exhibits resembled machines used to spin wool, with a big wheel (like one used to steer a boat) spinning round. However attached to each spoke on the wheel was a little, leather whip, and on the other one, feathers. In case you can’t quite work this out, they are designed for women to stand over. The feather one had a little press peddle to make it turn.

It only got more inventive, weird and funny from there. My favourite? The anti-masturbation machine. Strap the end on to your teenage son’s penis and if, at some point in the night, he gets excited, an alarm will ring at the other end of the machine, which is placed in the parents’ bedroom. Genius.

The machines were as creative and inventive as they were perverted and disturbing. Perhaps a late-night edition of New Inventors is in order….

24 hours in Zurich

Switzerland is home to a lot of wonderful things: Lindt chocolate, Toblerone, great watches, Roger Federer, and, as I found out, the $6 cup of tea from Starbucks. I hadn’t expected Zurich to be cheap, but I wasn’t quite prepared for just how expensive it is.



Our time in Zurich is simply a stopover after finishing the Bernina Express on our way to Prague. We’re on the night train to Prague so we had a day to fill and little motivation to do anything that cost money, for good reasons.

We arrived on Sunday night and after asking the girl at reception for a recommendation for a cheap place for dinner, she warned us “there’s nothing cheap in Zurich”. Damn straight. The restaurant we ended up at advertised “two pieces of toast with a fried egg, ham and cheese” for 18 Swiss Francs – that’s more than $20 Australian. Prices at the supermarket the next morning weren’t too extreme but a visit to some chain stores revealed a lot. I ducked into the Body Shop and found one make up item to be double the price it is in Australia (after conversion). We spent a few hours hiding from the rain in the shops before visiting Starbucks for a coffee. 30CHF later (about $33AUD) we’d enjoyed three drinks and a muffin. I regularly got a cup of tea from Starbucks in Canada that cost about $2.50. Here it was 5.20CHF, which is roughly $6AUD. For a teabag and some hot water??? The Swiss may enjoy a good economy compared to the rest of Europe, but that’s not welcome news to budget travellers like me. Remind me to go to Greece next.

In looking up some things to do in the city, the Zurich Toy Museum came up. Since the Lindt Factory is closed on Mondays, toys seemed like the next best thing. We walked to the museum building, then up about eight flights of stairs to the actual museum. It’s a pokey little place. The toys on display are from a time well before batteries were included. There were doll houses with teeny tiny furnishings – even fake wool for knitting. Toy planes, soldiers, bears and dolls. Upstairs was a special exhibit on transport toys. There were 11 little Smurf toys hidden in the display as a treasure hunt for kids. I found all of them.

Through the Swiss Alps: The Bernina Express

Of all the things that come to mind when I think of Switzerland (watches, knives and banks), there was one I never expected to see anytime soon: the Swiss Alps. I have a thing for mountains. I also have a thing for trains. So travelling through the Alps by train seemed the perfect trip.

The Bernina Express connects the northern Italian town of Tirano with Chur (pronounced Kor) in Switzerland. It's a four-hour trip that seems to only go one way - up! Oh, it also goes round and round. While it's going up.

One of the highlights of the trip comes minutes after leaving Tirano. I, being on the train, couldn't take a photo of it, so here's one from Rhaetian Railway's flickr site:



Yep, the train does a loop-de-loop. From there it starts climbing. The track weaves up the first major mountain and the village below just gets smaller and smaller. Eventually we stop overlooking the valley and delve into the mountains. Despite the heat, this is the Alps, so there is still a smacking of snow on the peaks.





The railway was built between 1896 to 1904, and was the first major rail route from Italy into Switzerland. It is now a UNESCO World Heritage site. It's still a busy freight route, but with views like this you can see why it's one of the top scenic rail trips in the world.



We reach a top of 2253 metres during the 144km trip. We travel across 196 bridges and 55 tunnels. The mountains occasionally give way to farm land - we see a handful of cows and sheep. There are also a few dedicated cyclists making their way up the road and we see a few hikers too.



The train has big panoramic windows in all the carriages. This isn't the case for all of the trains. Although several travel the route each day, most only go to St Moritz. The one we are on (the 14.04 from Tirano) goes all the way to Chur and every carriage has the panoramic windows.

We arrive into Chur about 6.30pm, head into the station and quickly buy a ticket for the 6.39pm train to Zurich, jumping on with minutes to spare.

We booked our ticket with Rhaetian Railway. You can book a seat reservation several months out, but are not made available until close to the date. For our June 24 trip we made our seat reservation on March 8. We bought our tickets the day before at the station in . Note: For train travel in Europe you will often need BOTH a seat reservation and a ticket, to reserve a seat. For the best advice on rail travel I've ever seen check out The Man in Seat Sixty One. This guy is gold!

Thanks to my mum for taking most of these photos. I was too busy staring out the window in a Toblerone-induced coma.