July 17, 2007

• Arriving at the "Champ du Mars"

  We woke this morning to find at least 20 hoppers suspended from the sticky tape, so it worked! 
  Today the Tour finished a stage in [tag-tec]Briançon[/tag-tec] coming all the way from Val d’Isere and up over the gruelling Col du Galibier.  We spent the day with Denise and Michel, enjoying a lovely lunch in the garden along with Lauren and Michael too.  We waited until the riders were nearing town then Denise and I went to join the men at the central roundabout in town where the race came down past the barracks, turning left at the roundabout and then having to finish the race by cyling up the very steep “Chaussée”, left round the citadel and arriving at the “Champ du Mars”.  As Denise and I could not find our husbands, we carried on up to the citadel and took a post up on the “interdit” ramparts of the old town where we watched the leader cycle past, closely followed by Nicholas Sarkozy who had been following this stage of the Tour.  We then climbed up through the Gargouille so we could see the presentations but there were so many people about, we had to make do with watching it on the large screen specially erected for the occasion.  Denise recognised several of the town’s dignitaries but was disappointed she did not get to shake Sarkozy’s hand! (…)