Tour de France

Last Sunday, the 24th, we joined some friends to jaunt down to Paris and watch the finish of Le Tour, around the cobbles of the Champs Elysees. It was quite the event, and I think we'll go back next year, just to enjoy the spectacle. This year, however, we mostly went to see Lance and cheer him on for his 7th Tour win.

The weather forecast was for rain most of the day, but looking at the satellite photo loop, you could see a likely break in the weather that might arrive at Paris sometime in the mid-afternoon. So we all piled into our friend's car and headed down the Autoroute for our 250 km drive to Paris. Got parked in the outskirts of town, and took the Metro in to L'Arc de Triomphe.

And then, even though we were more than 3 hours early, we had to hunt for a place to plant ourselves to see the race go by. We eventually fond a spot where we could get just back of the front rank of spectators, and hoped we'd have a decent view. And then we sat and waited. And waited... and waited some more.

Le Tour is basically a high-speed parade, with the riders preceeded by a caravan of publicity and advertising vehicles zipping by at around 40 to 45 km per hour. For most of Le Tour, a lot of trinkets, samples, and other stuff gets tossed out to the crowds as they go by. Unfortunately for us, the officials don't allow this once the race reaches the heart of Paris. Probably concerned that it would leave debris on the road.

Anyway, for around an hour we were treated to various whimsical vehicles, like teapots, water bottles, gas cannisters, and so on. But finally, the official vehicles started through and in another 10 minutes the riders arrived!

The weather, as predicted, was pretty dreary all afternoon, including intermittent drizzle and light rain. Even so, there was a good crowd, and when the riders arrived, the spectators were standing about 12 per meter along each side of the Champs Elysees (or somewhere around 80,000 people). And a huge number of Americans in the crowds... around where we were, perhaps as many as 20%. Lots of American and Texan flags on display.

When the riders reached the Place de la Concorde, we'd just had a soaking, the cobbles were all wet, and the race officials decided to stop the clock at that point. Meaning, of course, Lance had won. They still had to do their 8 laps, and the first one they did with all the various leaders in the front of the Peleton. After that, some folks wanted to pick up points for finishing position, so it eventually became more of a race. And it helped that the weather cleared. By the time the riders were on their 8th and last lap, the sun was out and the pavement was dry. We wish we'd been able to find a place near the finish line to watch. Ah, well, it was still great!