When you watch the Tour de France live, you're in the thick of the action. Cheering, watching the riders whizz by, waving at the helicopters circling above. However, you have absolutely no idea what's going on. After manning our little patch of footpath on part of the stage two course at Les Essarts for six hours, it's only now, after looking on the Internet, that I have any idea what happened today.
For the first time in three years the team time trial was back. After waiting around for hours yesterday to see seconds of racing, the time trial offered a bit more activity, even if it was again for only seconds at a time.
Les Essarts is about an hours' drive from Fontenay-le-comte and has a population of about 5000. Traffic was blocked about 1km from the town, with the cars directed to park in paddocks. From there everyone walked into town. Although the course is about 23km, getting out to the parts that are away from the town would have been a bit of a trek so we followed the course and ended up about 500 metres from the start line.
Despite the thousands of people who would have been in Les Essarts, we secured a good area just in time for the caravan. Aussie flag around my shoulders, yellow Tour umbrella in one hand and my other ready to catch anything thrown in my direction, I prepared for battle. Today's haul was a little more impressive than yesterday's. First score was a T-shirt (thanks Skoda), which became my outfit for the day.
Thousands of miles from home in small French village and we end up standing next to a family from Melbourne. They are in France especially for the tour. Later another couple also from Melbourne walks past and stops for a chat. Then some Kiwis. Yesterday we'd got talking to a Scottish couple that now lives in France, not far from where we are staying. We also spot one guy in a Richmond top and later one in a Carlton top.
The first team wasn't due to start until 2.30pm so we had a few hours to wait. We made salad sandwiches on the footpath using paper bags as chopping boards for lunch and then waited. The teams competed in reverse order, so the three Australians we wanted to cheer for (Matt Goss, Stuart O'Grady and Cadel Evans) were in the top four teams, therefore the last to come around. We couldn't quite see the start line but we could usually pick when a team was about to start because a chopper would take its place in the sky. At one point there were seven flying around. Then we'd hear the crowd cheer, the police motorbikes come round the corner, then the riders. We'd cheer, the team cars would follow and we'd sit down and wait seven minutes to do it all again. A woman in the house across the road was watching the race on TV and would come running out yelling something that we took to mean "they're coming", although she gave up that after the first few. We made a slight variation to our routine when it was time for the Aussie's to come round: we'd so a special "Go Aussie" cheer for them.
We were approached by the BBC to do a quick grab for them ("Hi I'm Megan, I'm from Australia, GO AUSSIE" type thing). I resisted the urge to refuse to do it unless they gave me a job.
We left at 6pm and were back in Fotenay-le-comte by 7pm and straight onto the Internet to find out what on earth happened today. For those interested, Garmin-Cervelo won the day, putting Thor Hushovd in the yellow. Cadel is in third. His team, BMC, came second, which was a bit of a surprise Team Sky, one of the favourites for today, finished third.
Sunday, July 3
Saturday, July 2
why curiousity is a good thing
The first tour stage we'd planned to see was Stage Two, the team time trial at Les Essarts tomorrow. Because it's in the town we thought we'd do some reccie today. After a sleep in we headed off about midday. I made mum pull over so I could photograph the sunflowers. They're beautiful. It's a better sight than spuds and dairy cows. We opted to avoid the toll road and Charlie took us through a few little villages. As we came into St Hermine (not sure how to pronounced this but we stuck with Hermione from Harry Potter) we noticed a lot of people setting up camp on the side of the road. Now curiousity is a wonderful thing. Being the stickybeaks that we are we pulled up and went to explore. Turns out we'd landed ourselves in the middle of a Tour de France stage. So we bought an umbrella, spread out to maximise our photo vantage points and waited. And waited.
After a while, the caravan began. The actual tour is preceded by lots and lots of cars: officials, teams, security and promotional vans. It was more fun than Disneyland. And I'm being serious. Mickey Mouse didn't throw me a hat, bag, lollies, cakes or washing liquid now did he.
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The first signs were the helicopters overhead. Then the crowd around the corner as the bikes came into sight. Around the corner came police, cameramen and three riders in the breakaway. A few seconds and they were gone. Then came another wait. How far in front were they? Turns out it was about four minutes, although it felt like a lot more. Then the peloton arrived and whizzed past. Just enough time for a couple of photos, taken while I was screaming and waving my other hand in the air. An official car drives past and announces something in French and everyone leaves. In minutes the crowded intersection where we had stood for about four hours was empty, except for a few people in the pub watching the telecast and pointing excitedly at the screen when they showed St Hermine. We saw about 50 metres of a 191.5km stage.
For those interested, Belgian Philippe Gilbert won the stage, with Aussie Cadel Evans three seconds behind. I read later there was a mass pile-up 9km from the finish. A rider clipped a stray spectator. I wouldn't want to be that guy.
We continued to Les Essarts to check out the town. There were a lot of busy people preparing for tomorrow. We were hoping to scout the best places to park, sit etc, but since we had a good time today the pressure is off. Can't say that for the riders though.
holy macaroon
After three days in Paris we picked up Louis and with him, our ticket out of it. Louis is a seven-seater Citron C8 and our ride for most of the next three weeks. I still do a double take when someone drives past and I see the person in the drivers side reading a book or looking in the back seat until I remember it's a left-hand drive car.
From Paris we headed to Versailles and to the palace. It was the Royal hunting lodge at the time but Louis the 14th had grander plans and over many decades, transformed it into what it is today. It's stunning from the outside but the artwork is exquisite. I won't even attempt to describe it so here are some pictures.
It takes a good few hours to walk through the whole place, so much so that by the end of it we were a little over walking. After lunch, which included my first macaroon in France (oh Jude it was amazing!), we ventured into the gardens. The gardens cover more than 800 acres. We spent a little time walking around before deciding to walk to Marie-Antoinette's apartment. However, by the time we got there we had walked so far we couldn't really be bothered going in so we turned around and walked back.
Our final destination today was Fontenay-le-comte, about 400km away. Half way through we learnt how to use Charlie (our sat-nav), which made the trip a bit quicker, however we still didn't arrive until close to 9pm.
From Paris we headed to Versailles and to the palace. It was the Royal hunting lodge at the time but Louis the 14th had grander plans and over many decades, transformed it into what it is today. It's stunning from the outside but the artwork is exquisite. I won't even attempt to describe it so here are some pictures.
It takes a good few hours to walk through the whole place, so much so that by the end of it we were a little over walking. After lunch, which included my first macaroon in France (oh Jude it was amazing!), we ventured into the gardens. The gardens cover more than 800 acres. We spent a little time walking around before deciding to walk to Marie-Antoinette's apartment. However, by the time we got there we had walked so far we couldn't really be bothered going in so we turned around and walked back.
Our final destination today was Fontenay-le-comte, about 400km away. Half way through we learnt how to use Charlie (our sat-nav), which made the trip a bit quicker, however we still didn't arrive until close to 9pm.
Naked breasts and talking dogs
Singing, dancing, naked breasts, acrobatics, juggling, a talking dog, miniature ponies, swimming in a tank full of snakes and did I mention the talking dog?
Ah, an evening at the Moulin Rouge. What a way to end the day.
I started the day with a run to stretch the legs. A little bit up the road I came to a big park so entertained myself by running around and through that for a while. Then it was off to the shops. Mum wanted a couple of things so we headed for Boulevard Haussman, one of the main shopping streets in Paris. The Parisians seem to have a thing for little dogs and take them everywhere. Including into H&M.
We then headed in the direction of the Champ Elysees. The 2km avenue starts at Place de la Concorde. This end was fairly busy and surrounded by workmen, which we suspect is in preparation for Bastille Day on July 14 when there will be a military parade here. About half way toward the Arc de Triomphe, the shopping starts. I did some research afterwards and discovered the rents here can top $1.1million euros per 1100sq feet per year.
Although we were on a deadline to get home we decided to walk to the end and then made our way back a little in search of a metro station and a book shop. On the way we passed a woman and a man doing beautiful paintings of people's names. We watched for a while and when she was free I added my name and Kim's to her list. She only just finished Kim's name before she was interrupted by the police. She packed up quickly and showed them some paperwork but something must not have been quite right as the police kept the couple held up for a while and seemed to be writing out a ticket.
That night we headed for the Moulin Rouge. Mum organised the tickets through a tour company that must keep a supply each night. Our guide, Stephan, spoke about four languages on the way to the venue. Seems incredible that someone who is obviously so talented at languages is guiding our bus.
We were treated to a three-course dinner. I chose the rabbit tagine for entree, duck á lórange for main and a hazelnut gateaux for dessert. Throughout dinner we were entertained by some cabaret singers, but frankly, they were nothing special. Although the Japanese crowd enjoyed a couple of songs in their language.
At 9pm, the curtains went up on Feerie, the production showing there at the moment. Stephan explained it was difficult to translate but said it was similar to 'wonderland'. The problem with this show is putting it into words. I also saw more naked breasts than anyone needs to. And before any guys reading this get excited. If you think about the dancing these girls needed to do without a bra, you can safely assume these girls don't have much to get excited about.
The singing and dancing was spectacular, but there were a few acts that were simply amazing. One girl was dancing on the stage when a huge tank of water with pythons swimming around came up from the floor and she dived in, swimming and twirling around the snakes. My favourite was the ventriloquist. He brought a small dog on stage and did an act with it that was hilarious. I won't describe any more of it because I just can't do it justice. The show went for 90 minutes and as we left the crowd was lining up to see the late showing. The performers have to do it all over again.
The tour would have dropped us back at the apartment but we asked to go to the Eiffel Tower instead. It's a more relaxed place at night. The street vendors sell champagne and wine instead of water and people can sneak onto the grass, which is roped off and policed during the day. It was a bit chilly and we'd been walking all day so I just took a few pictures and left.
please remain seated until your teacup has come to a complete stop
"Please remain seated until your teacup has come to a complete stop" comes the announcement over the speaker. We can only be in one place. Disneyland!
It was a very excited Pegs, a less excited Jim Jams and Toby Jug and two reluctant parents who ventured to Paris Disneyland today. After indulging in croissants from the patisseries across the road for breakfast and checking out a market set up in front of our apartment, we headed to the attraction, which is about a 40-minute train trip from the city.
The attractions are split into two parks: Disneyland Paris and the Walt Disney Studio Park. We decided just to tackle the one and started in Disneyland Paris with lunch at the Hakuna Matata Cafe in Adventureland. We avoided the 'big' rides as Kim isn't up to it after her recent horse accident, I'd done them before and the parentals don't like to line up. Instead we explored, and got lost, in the 140 acre park. The entire Disneyland Paris complex covers 4800 acres. It's cheesy and completely aimed at children, but there is something completely magical about this place. I've been twice in Tokyo and am now determined to visit them all. Nothing like being a child again.
The lines were quite reasonable on most of the rides we wanted to go on: It's a small world, the carousel and the Mad Hatter Tea Cups. There was only one parade today: The Disney Once Upon A Dream Parade at 5pm. Since we'd arrived before lunch, it was a big day. We scored front spot for the parade (I may have demanded that we wait along the route early to do so). The announcements were given in about four or five languages, but there appeared to be no translation for "Disney Once Upon A Dream Parade". My favourites were seeing Mary Poppins and the Winnie the Pooh float.
We spent a bit of time browsing the shops before we headed back home for tea in the apartment.
It was a very excited Pegs, a less excited Jim Jams and Toby Jug and two reluctant parents who ventured to Paris Disneyland today. After indulging in croissants from the patisseries across the road for breakfast and checking out a market set up in front of our apartment, we headed to the attraction, which is about a 40-minute train trip from the city.
The attractions are split into two parks: Disneyland Paris and the Walt Disney Studio Park. We decided just to tackle the one and started in Disneyland Paris with lunch at the Hakuna Matata Cafe in Adventureland. We avoided the 'big' rides as Kim isn't up to it after her recent horse accident, I'd done them before and the parentals don't like to line up. Instead we explored, and got lost, in the 140 acre park. The entire Disneyland Paris complex covers 4800 acres. It's cheesy and completely aimed at children, but there is something completely magical about this place. I've been twice in Tokyo and am now determined to visit them all. Nothing like being a child again.
The lines were quite reasonable on most of the rides we wanted to go on: It's a small world, the carousel and the Mad Hatter Tea Cups. There was only one parade today: The Disney Once Upon A Dream Parade at 5pm. Since we'd arrived before lunch, it was a big day. We scored front spot for the parade (I may have demanded that we wait along the route early to do so). The announcements were given in about four or five languages, but there appeared to be no translation for "Disney Once Upon A Dream Parade". My favourites were seeing Mary Poppins and the Winnie the Pooh float.
We spent a bit of time browsing the shops before we headed back home for tea in the apartment.
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