WOW! What an amazing race the Tour was this year. If you did not follow the race, there were been many ups and downs, scandals, and lead changes. Of course, since neither Ashley nor I are fluent in French we were not able to keep up with all the news while we were actually at the Tour(in other words, reading a French newspaper is not very easy). So all the excitement and news of the Tour had to wait until we got to Paris, where American newspapers were more readily available. Until then, we enjoyed the sites and sounds of the world's most famous cylcing race.
Ashley and I arrived in Pau, France on Tuesday, July 24. This is a view of Pau from the overlook ...
The last stage in the Pyrenees (a critical point in the tour) was in Orthez - a 20 minute train ride from Pau. We arrived at 6 a.m., a little before the sun rose.
The view without people is more dramatic when you compare it to the view with people.
Can you tell where the crowd ends and the cyclists begin? Can you see the barricades?
This was the last stage for Rasmussen (in the yellow jersey), and we were there!
We also saw the man that would end up in Yellow (Discovery White jersey - meaning he was also the lead rookie!).
At the start, a group of riders protested doping by refusing to ride with Rasmussen (who had only been accused at that point since he had missed 2 tests). The start was stalled for a good 5 minutes ... people booing Rasmussen the whole time.We sat outside a local bar after the start of the race and contemplated our experience.
I also met a friend while there ... who did not speak English. He was, however, quite patient and helped me work through my (horrible) French speaking abilities, and then he took a photo for us.
The next day, we stood at the first turn of the stage starting in Pau.
Since neither Ashley nor I are fluent in French, keeping up with Tour happenings was quite hard in an area of the country where speaking English was not common. When the 17th stage started in Pau, I wondered "Where is the yellow jersey?" http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/27/sports/sportsspecial1/27tour.html?em&ex=1185681600&en=79f84e1268c64f6d&ei=5087%0A
Very exciting to have been there for all of this ... even though what actually happened is quite negative for the sport overall (and we were largely ignorant to its happenings). We witnessed history! Overall, the hit of the trip for me ...
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