Around 9am I took my time organizing my stuff and had it packed up tight by 11. Not sure exactly when the caravan and cyclists were coming thru, I put on my most water proof clothes and walked the 1 block into the village. The rain stopped the moment I arrived. I immediately saw Miranda, Simon’s daughter, then Simon and Samuel his son.
I stopped along the road with them. I was kind of hoping I'd missed the hoopla of the caravan and could go straight to the riders. No such luck. We stood thru the parade and I collected the few pieces I didn't already have, such as the famous green finger. A local resident carried around a giant round of cheese and cut off slabs for the villagers along the roads. Can’t believe I don’t have a pic of him!
Then to the bar to wait for the start and watch coverage on TV. I had a very delicious coffee, compliments of Simon, and recognized the roads along which the cyclists made their way to Lasseube. I felt a part of it all, even tho I was sitting among French speaking people, in a bar in a tiny French village in the Pyrenees watching the Tour de France. A few people squealed now and then as they saw family and friends along the roads on TV. Then we all dashed outside to see the cyclists pass. There it was, the yellow jersey!
Then Andy and the team cars.
This was as good as it gets! The village, the people, the whole experience all superb! I felt as if I could now check off one of those things you must do before you die, that I didn't even know was on my list. With a silly grin I said goodbye to all my new friends and walked back to my tent. No longer raining, I changed into my jeans and sneakers, and waited peacefully for Fabian to collect me, since he’d offered to take me back into Pau to catch a train to Bordeaux. I had tried to arrange for a taxi, but with all the road closures they were nervous. We had a pleasant chat on the drive in and he dropped me off with heaps of time to spare. So I updated my budget. With low food costs, no taxi fare and no bike rentals, I was quite a bit under budget. I thought on the drive how I really must eat more, before I go into that funky spiral where I can't seem to get any food in. I longed for an Odwalla.
As I boarded the train to Bordeaux, I noticed that someone was in my seat again, but since this train wasn't completely full. I just sat elsewhere. Some Americans with bike boxes sat next to me. But I had no interest in striking up a conversation with them. So I just sat and thought and felt content.
I brought snapshots of my trip so far to mind: The campsite, the locals, the village, the tourists. There have been heaps of fit riders in various cycling team and club wear all over the place. It's been fabulous. It'd be a blast to a) be a good enough rider to cycle comfortably on these mountains and b) have someone to travel here with. I love seeing kids on bikes just going about their business and becoming top mountain cyclists on the way. It'd be great to watch the TdF from a mountain top where they're cycling slower and the crowd is really vigorously cheering them on. Epic. Problem is, you have to position yourself days in advance and have all the food on board that you need. Or, you have to cycle up the mountain. Still, I'm having an excellent time despite the language barrier. Did I mention how glad I am that I'm not traveling with my bike? Yes, it'd have been nice a bunch of times. But it'd have been a major hassle a bunch of times more.
Once in Bordeaux I took a taxi to hotel. I wandered out just long enough to grab a bite at a place called Flunch, with free wifi, of course :-)
The room is wonderful.
I banished my shoes to balcony because they'd become a bit smelly from sitting in tent water over night. Then headed straight into a bubble bath.
Quite frankly, with free Herald Tribunes and a steam room, I was feeling very much like a kid in a candy store. All at a budget price since I’d booked a flat at a new city center block of apartments that weren’t full yet.
As I collapsed into bed, the biggest crisis on my mind was the fact that I desperately needed a pumice stone.
Zzzz.
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