Well we made it to see the Tour de France pass by - all 20 seconds or so of it! We were just about the first people out there waiting around 9:30 this morning. I didn't want to miss the caravan. The caravan probably didn't come until around 11. Alienor and Guillaume had fun trying to catch things that they throw at the crowd. They got a variety of advertising junk which they thought was exciting. I was surprised by the lack of turnout - I mean I thought there would be way more people lining the road. We had a good seat on a wall which kept Perceval and Margot from wandering off. I wouldn't let them down. The caravan lasted about an hour, hundreds of cars painted with company logos, blaring music, etc. passing by. It's amazing how many vehicles precede the cyclists. There were tons of cars that just drove by which made me wonder what part they play in the whole competition, or what important people were in those Skoda cars (official vehicle of this years Tour). The cyclists didn't come until almost 12:30. And like I said, they came and went in all of 20 seconds! There were a handful of cyclists in front, but other than that it was just a mass of cyclists (I think they said 125 or so) all in one long group. Obviously we've all seen it on TV so you know what I'm talking about. It was neat to see it in person. Being able to witness events like this always makes me a little teary-eyed. Kind of like seeing the Olympic torch pass by.
When we got home, the kids dumped out my backpack and went through all the handouts they had received. My souvenir was the arrow that you see in the picture. We sat there the whole time and as we started to leave, I just decided to take it with me!
Well, we didn't get fireworks for the fourth of July but at least we got a little holiday (Alienor's school was closed for the Tour) and a little excitement.
Hope you all have a great 4th!
Jocelyn