We had stayed in some parking bays in a quiet little street.
After our own breakfast, we rode off to explore the time trial course.
During the course of this journey we discovered we had parked only 400m from the finish line. Amazing.
Anyway, we saw the usual sights... The occasional rider out on his bike, the team buses arriving, the mechanics working on bikes.
We found a spot about 100m from the finish line. So we waited there, and watched the entertainment happen all around us.
Even saw Cadel doing a warm up lap. Sadly, we only recognised him after he passed us.
We continued to receive hats, food, and other goodies as handouts.
At one stage, John eagerly opened his ‘yoghurt’, only to discover it was cream cheese. :-0
So it was off to find a baguette to have with it. He asked for the baguette with his brilliant french “baguette, s’il vous plait”
Then there was a smattering of french words from the lad behind the counter, and John heard the word cheese. So he was just said “oui”, expecting he was confirming his order.
The lad replied in English “Which one then?” Oops, but I quickly realised there was a choice of ham and cheese, or sausage.
So I managed to quickly avert an international incident.
We stayed for a handful of riders, then decided to move on. The first rider finished sometime before 11.
Cadel was not due to start until shortly before 5. We weren’t going to hang about for that long.
It was now time to leave the Tour, and explore the Loire Valley for a couple of days.
We entered Saumur, and dropped into the Tourist office. On our way there, some school students rounded the corner. One of them said “Yes, England”.
My hat is an Aussie flag hat, with the Union Jack covering one side, and the Southern Cross on the other.
They had only seen the Union Jack side. I turned around so they could see the other side of the hat and said “No. Orstralian, mate!”
That got a laugh from them anyway.
Went for a drive along the Loire river. Dropped in to have a glance at a Chatuex.
At 8 Euro each to visit, we thought we’d wait until we worked out which ones to visit.
So we found a nice little parking area and settled in.
It was actually a very warm afternoon, and we were now in tshirt and shorts, for the first time since Singapore.
The heat of Singapore is but a distant memory now.
Polished off a nice little bottle of Beaujolais , and then went for a walk around the village at 10pm. It was still light, and the sun was just setting.
Very pleasant way to finish off the day.
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