The lovely C and I have decamped to France for our annual frolic in the sun, so first off apologies to those of my readers who may be trudging daily to work under grey British, or even Antipodean skies (heh, heh). The weather here is hot, hot, hot, which is great news for tourism, but not for cement. This may seem like a rather arbitrary reference, but if you've ever ordered concrete, only to discover that the cement lorry driver could not find your house and arrived 40 minutes later than he should have, on one of the hottest days of the southern French summer, you will know what I mean.
This last weekend was huge fun - a combination of Bastille Day celebrations and the start of stage 14 of the Tour de France from Limoux, which meant that the whole town was in carnival mood, starting with a fabulous firework display on Friday night and finishing with music and dancing in the square following the departure of the Tour. I had no idea what a performance the Tour is - the publicity cavalcade alone took 15 minutes to roll by - to much excitement from the crowds lining the route as young ladies threw free samples of everything from detergent and mini sausages to packets of madeleines (what would Proust have said?). We managed to avoid concussion by saucisson and to be in the right place when the riders left the waiting area to take up position on the starting grid. We even scored a vantage point just a couple of rows from the front, so we were able to catch the starting action by standing on our tiptoes. Not bad, considering we did all our waiting for the start in a nearby cafe sipping our drinks and chatting to cameramen covering the race rather than standing on the pavement for three hours before the start.......
I did get some footage of the preparations for the race, but it was quite frankly rather dull, so I found this on youtube instead. It shows the sponsors' parade going through the nearby town of Chalabre, shortly after the Limoux start. Chalabre is a pretty little town, as you can see. If you ever find yourself there between 12 noon and 2 p.m., pop into the Hotel de France for a spot of lunch. Starter, main course, cheese, dessert, coffee and wine all included for the bargain price of 12.50 Euros.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cT6htJPcCPs&feature=relmfu
This last weekend was huge fun - a combination of Bastille Day celebrations and the start of stage 14 of the Tour de France from Limoux, which meant that the whole town was in carnival mood, starting with a fabulous firework display on Friday night and finishing with music and dancing in the square following the departure of the Tour. I had no idea what a performance the Tour is - the publicity cavalcade alone took 15 minutes to roll by - to much excitement from the crowds lining the route as young ladies threw free samples of everything from detergent and mini sausages to packets of madeleines (what would Proust have said?). We managed to avoid concussion by saucisson and to be in the right place when the riders left the waiting area to take up position on the starting grid. We even scored a vantage point just a couple of rows from the front, so we were able to catch the starting action by standing on our tiptoes. Not bad, considering we did all our waiting for the start in a nearby cafe sipping our drinks and chatting to cameramen covering the race rather than standing on the pavement for three hours before the start.......I did get some footage of the preparations for the race, but it was quite frankly rather dull, so I found this on youtube instead. It shows the sponsors' parade going through the nearby town of Chalabre, shortly after the Limoux start. Chalabre is a pretty little town, as you can see. If you ever find yourself there between 12 noon and 2 p.m., pop into the Hotel de France for a spot of lunch. Starter, main course, cheese, dessert, coffee and wine all included for the bargain price of 12.50 Euros.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cT6htJPcCPs&feature=relmfu
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