How time flies... I had meant to write and post here the way I've always written in journals when I travel (daily) and find myself at this end of le Tour with lots of untold stories and only a few more days left in Paris.
I'm sitting, listening to the traffic on Rue St. Michel and looking out my window at the soft light that contrasts sharply with the sound of scooters and buses. Looking up to my left I can see the Pantheon, to my right is the Jardin de Luxembourg. It's been two weeks since I arrived here, landing in Paris and heading up to Belgium. Trip one was a couple of days up there, followed by a long drive down to the Pyrenees... these I've written about a little. That was trip 1.
Trip 2 was a handful of days with a handful of Belgians following the Tour, based out of St Girons. That was amazing and I will write up a separate trip report on it including a video of the trip up the Tourmalet that was surreal. It also includes a trip to Toulouse to pick up Andrea at the train station there on Bastille day (I don't recommend it!).
Trip 3 was a few days that Andrea and I got to share in Provence, cycling around Mt Ventoux and relaxing. It was beautiful, and a calm between storms... the actual organized parts of the trip were very busy and included numerous long days. All very rewarding, just very tiring too. Sitting in Malaucene sipping a beer and seeing all the cyclists as the finish the descent off Ventoux was a highlight. And the Museeuw bikes got some close inspection from people who know the name... we didn't see any other Museeuw bikes the entire trip.
Trip 4 was the most intense... a group of over 20 Belgians for the Alpes portion of the Tour. And as promised, we got to some amazing parts of the race... within 20KM of the finish on the Galibier, at the finish atop Alpe d'Huez, the start at Pinerolo, and within 500M of the start/finish of the time trial in Grenoble. And of course... Paris. Pick a spot, mingle with the huge crowd, enjoy! We did...
So here I am in trip 5. Paris, finished the bulk of the work with only a final gallery to complete. Finally have time to think, organize my thoughts, reflect. And time to finally get back to this blog. It's past 1:30 in the morning here, so I will only get a start... this short description and a few photos will have to do until I am able to write a complete report from each of the trips.
I have stories of rides to tell, stories of the camping culture, stories of the race, and personal insights... so stay tuned. Meanwhile, enjoy these photos.
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| Thor had a great Tour, his fans had a lot to cheer about |
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| Watching the Tour finish in a bar, very much a part of the culture |
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| St Girons |
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| Les Dentelles, Provence |
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| The famous beer bus... |
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| Snow... July 19th at the top of Col d'Izoard |
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| Croix de Fer |
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| Grenoble ITT |
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| Paris finish |
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| The Pantheon at night |
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