The Tour de France

We went to see the riders in the Tour de France today.  Not feeling up to the crowds at the end of the race on the Champs Elysees, we went to a spot near my (old) language school in a near suburb called Issy-Les-Moulineaux, which had the advantage of being near a Metro stop and yet outside of the density of Paris. We stood on a small street named Boulevard Gallieni, which had the advantage of being uncrowded and shaded, and of affording a long view up a slight incline.  Our location is noted approximately below; click on the map to see where we were in terms of the larger metropolitan area.

We had read in the paper that the riders were supposed to go by anywhere between 3:20 and 3:40, so we got there a little after 2, got an excellent spot (which wasn't hard, given the few number of people there) and, along with everyone else, we waited.  And waited.  And waited.  And waited.  And then waited some more.

Maybe they just decided to go slow today, but they didn't show up at our spot until well after 4:15, and then were gone in ... well, they were gone pretty darn quick.

Even though they were gone in a flash (we kept saying, there must be more of them coming, but there weren't), it was worth the wait for the experience, to see all the team cars, and all the press cars, and to be able to walk back to the Metro and get on the first train and be home in 20 minutes.