Tour de France 2009
Last year, we missed the Tour de France. We were in Paris when the race passed through Canterbury, then in Canterbury when the race passed through Paris. It was ironic, but it meant that we didn’t get to see any of the famous race.
This year, however, the race passed within 100 meters of our apartment, so there was no excuse for not going out and having a look. We met up with Anne-Laure and Neil, who live just down the road, and watched the caravane go by. There weren’t as many people as I expected, so we staked out a good spot and watched the parade go by.
We were listening to the coverage. The riders were taking their time and were still 120km away by the time the caravane went past. So we trundled up to Anne-Laure and Neil’s place to open a nice bottle of rosé and watch the coverage on TV. The rest of the crowds remained in place on the road – two hours of watching nothing! When the riders were about 10km outside of Paris, we headed back downstairs to get a look.
The riders were all together in the peloton – the whole race passed us in 8-10 seconds. Imagine camping out for three hours to catch 8 seconds of action. Great to say that I was there, but not sure I’d rush back to do it again. Cycling is definitely a sport that’s better to watch on TV than up-close and personal!
