Tour de France 2011

I am not a cycling fan.  I can't even remember the last time I got on a bicycle.  However, I am a sports fan and I recognize that almost any major sporting enent can be fun.  Case in point, Jim and I visited Talledaga on race day once and it was awesome.  We left after about 20 laps but we enjoyed all the people watching... 

Seeing the Tour de France was high on my list of things to do in Paris.  First of all, it is not really a race by the time they get to Paris.  The Tour races all around France for over two weeks and Paris is the final "stage."  The winner is always known prior to arrival in Paris, so they are not usually racing hard in Paris.  Some have called it a victory lap of sorts.  And lap they do.  They loop over 15 times back and forth on the Champ Elysees, the grandest of boulevards in Paris.  With the Arc de Triomphe in the background and whizzing by Paris' choicest shops like Cartier and Louis Vutton, seeing the Tour roll in on the Champ Elysees is a sight to see.

This is easily one of the coolest things we have done in Paris, hands down.

The Austrailian flag

First of all, it was a beautiful day.  Not too hot and blue sky for miles.  Like those perfect spring days we got when we first moved to Paris.  Second, the crowd was fantastic.  The winner this year was Cadel Evans, an Australian, and this was the first time an Austrailin had ever won the Tour.  The Aussies were out in full force and they were great fun.  Third, it was actually an exciting final stage.  Though the overall winner, Cadel Evans, could not be beaten in the final stage, it was still a race to the finish for the winner of the stage - the winner of just that day's race.  So they were actually racing.  You can see in the video how fast they are actually going.  You can't comprehend what it is like to see that many bikes, so closely packed together, zipping by so fast.  My camera caught the blur, the videos are a little better.  Fourth, because they go by over 15 times, the crowd thinned after the first few passes.  My view and pictures got better as we waited. 

There is quite a long gap between the leaders and the rest of the pack - called the Peloton.  Which means you get several seconds of watching the empty pavement.  I was trying to give a sense of how long the gap was and how fast they are all moving. 

I won't say James and Mary Martin thought it was the coolest thing we have done in Paris.  They were good sports about it.  When the crowd thinned, they could see better.  The bikes go so fast though.  It is a lot of waiting for just a few seconds to see - not ideal for kids.  I finally broke out the secret weapon to keep them happy so I could stay longer - suckers...  Never fails...