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Le Tour July 2024Le Tour July 2024
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Et 7-dagers eventyr av John & Liz Les mer
  • John Bickerstaff
  • Liz Bickerstaff

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  • Tyskland Tyskland
  • Frankrike Frankrike
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  • Le Tour July 2024

    Stresses & strains.

    16. juli 2024, Frankrike ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    All the stress started the day before. Online check-in is supposed to make things easier. Didn't help (in so many ways) that the booking was from Liverpool and the flights had been changed to Manchester. Initial attempts on the app were met with the disconcerting statement that no booking existed. A number of phone calls in amongst bike building eventually established primarily that there were flights and that patience would be the key. Eventually tried checking in on my lunch & dawned that passport info was needed. Cue Liz texting. Boarding passes sorted - travel day stresses to come. As it happened the main source of concern was numerous delays. M6 decided to add 20 mins to the journey - Warrington is such a joy. Thankfully an extra hour was built in so plenty of time to play with. Drop and go parking was a breeze and just a 5 min walk to the terminal. Got through easy enough to find the Frankfurt flight delayed firstly till 12.10 & then 12.40. A claimed arrival time suggested an hour to get across Frankfurt airport. Normal sized airport - that would be fine but Frankfurt is a beast. On arrival discovered that passport control had to be negotiated within the hour or so remaining. EU queue - nothing. Brexit idiot queue - massive. Sent Liz to negotiate with the passenger assistant. So happened he was Irish. Much ducking and diving out of the queue & just had to wait for the Spanish school party we'd been sat amongst on the plane to clear & happy days. Irish passports are great. Think we might just have been ok but probably would've involved running. Flight to Nice went smoothly - Liz is a firm fan of Lufthansa - 'free' choccy. Nice airport was much smaller & the hotel was walkable, though even at 6.30 the heat was still there. Checked in, quick sort and a little walk to the beach via the supermarche for a baguette. Bizarrely all the parks on the way were locked up & closed but found a spec and watched the world go by. Kids pretending to be superheroes & bullfighters. Teenagers preening and posing.Les mer

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  • Le Tour July 2024

    Monkey on a bike.

    17. juli 2024, Frankrike ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    The tour starts here, well it doesn't figuratively or in practice but at some point they will fly past and be gone in seconds. The small matter of getting the hire car then driving from Nice to Gap - 150 miles. Easy to underestimate how big France is. Due to pick up the car at 10 at a nearby hotel. 5 minutes walk but already it was sweltering. Manager was a friendly guy (though I'm sure that's part of the job description) from Martinique who had lived for 20 years in Montreal. Got a little Quebec travel advice. Car sorted, time to negotiate the busy Cote d'azure motorways. Decided to take a hit on the tolls rather than the shorter but slower direct route. The small matter that somewhere along the way there seemed to be a road closure sealed the deal. Once beyond the main urban areas the roads cleared - Google took a detour to cut out a dog leg on the motorway which was a bit tortuous. Made it to Gap with a couple of hours to spare. Checked in to the Uber budget hotel - no air con. Argh. Walked into town to find the route - opted to head up the very lowest of the lower slopes of the days first climb. Found a shady spot. Turned out the race wasn't too far away. The saying goes that the French would cheer on a monkey on a bike and there were definitely a few characters around us like that. Every sponsor's car was getting rowdy responses. Each to their own. Chatted to a lady from Oxford whose husband had headed further up. The race was split into 3 groups and the slope slowed them a little. Once done wandered into town to see if there was anywhere to watch the culmination of the stage - other than a couple of bars there was not. Found some ice cream. Headed back for a rest out of the sun but the room was stifling. Eventually resorted to the car - took a drive to the beach at exactly the same time the hoardes were descending from the race. Something of a queue towards the lake. Was pretty enough but the water didn't look too inviting so back for tea.Les mer

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  • Le Tour July 2024

    Roll out.

    18. juli 2024, Frankrike ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    A new Tour de France experience - the start. Post Lidl breakie, a gentle walk into town to catch the tackiness that is the caravan parade. Found a shady spot & proceeded to chase tat. Mere amateurs by comparison to the locals & as for the class of infants brought down to watch - they swarmed out snaffling anything going. Managed some hats, snacks, cold drinks, a bottle opener and some detergent. Eclectic. Followed the masses & assumed they were heading out to the 'Tour Village' Rested at a shady spot & discovered the lemon & lime drinks were in fact lemon and lime flavoured non-alcoholic beer. Hmmm. It was cold though. The volume of people involved in the tour came into sharp focus on entering the village - town more like. Vast numbers of support vehicles, police, mechanics, tour officials. Tried to get into to see the presentations but only for VIPs. Watched the comings & goings for a while. No sign of Cav or Jonas. Headed off without Liz, phoned but no answer could be an interesting afternoon. Apparently she'd got stuck at a crossing when tour cars were going past. Found our shady spot for the roll out & watched as they 'lazily ambled' by. Just the small matter of 100+ miles in the Alps to go.Les mer

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  • Le Tour July 2024

    Double dose.

    18. juli 2024, Frankrike ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    The absence of Aircon provided heat control issues particularly when most of the time was being spent outside in mid 30° heat. McDonalds and a river side walk through a park helped but an extended drive was called for. Decided to try to take in the race as it drew to a close - 80km to go. Google seemed to be saying traffic was ok so it was merely a case of finding somewhere to dump the car & somewhere shady to have lunch. Stopped off in Lidl for supplies and the journey was as easy as suggested. Found a car park & sat on the kerb in the shade. The gendarmería came round suggesting we move back a little. How close can the cars come & they can't be going that fast. Turns out wrong on both counts. Retired to an alternative shady spot. One of us darted around between spots. One stayed put cheering on Cav. Second dose of Tour mayhem done decided to take in a local chateau oh and a little more Aircon. Got there to find it was being renovated. Still a nice walk up and some good views of the surroundings.Les mer

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  • Le Tour July 2024

    Remco's piss.

    19. juli 2024, Frankrike ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    Another day, another stage - an absolute beast so the tour briefing goes. Starts at a tranquil lakeside retreat & ascends to hell and back, again according to the briefing. Cav'll be really looking forward to this. The ideal would be to head up into the mountains but pragmatism suggested otherwise - a 4 hour drive to Nice would've turned into 8 or more being stuck up a mountain behind 10 tonnes of tour traffic - a tour jam if you will. Decided to head to the lakeside start point which Google was saying was just 30 mins drive. Pleasant enough drive along the lake & dumped the car at the out of town supermarket. Toilets out of order there & McDonald's was closed. Good start. Followed the masses across the bridge & a friendly guy with a tour lanyard told us where the caravan of crap would be & where the start was. Onwards to battle with kids for fun size packs of snacks, hats and other assorted junk. It was at this point that an oversized strawberry shaped car approached that it dawned that glasses had been left in the car. Going well. Admired the tackiness and banked snacks, hats & suchlike - no weird beer though. Ambled back to the start - far less spacious than Gap & yet somehow managed to find ourselves at the team presentation. Cheered on Cav. Less enthusiastic about Jasper Philipson. Went back to the car for glasses & cold drinks / facilities. Back on site for the roll out up hill. Pog looked suitably relaxed. Cue everyone descending down to the retail park - even the team buses were queuing - this wasn't a good situation. Some poor guy was draining the shit & piss out of them before they left & as he unclipped there was spillage. Having to jump across Remco's piss wasn't on my Tour to do list.Les mer

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  • Le Tour July 2024

    First swim.

    19. juli 2024, Frankrike ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    The small matter of getting to Nice or more accurately a distant (but cheaper) suburb of Nice. Either way a 4 hour drive with under half a tank of petrol and no idea how to adjust the display to show range. Worry about that when the light comes on. Was followed out of town by the Movistar bus - the first of many tour vehicles we stalked. The lunchtime stop at the services had too many tour / team employees to mention. The table behind us were watching it live but in Dutch / German. Couldn't get to the petrol station as it was blocked off for some strange reason so pushed on hoping the light wouldn't come on or at least Liz wouldn't see it come on. By my calculations we were 6 miles short but that didn't help when the light did appear. Thankfully avoided service prices but the price plumped for invariably was 10¢ more than the one just round the corner(ish) . Was now being followed by the Norwegian team bus. Unsurprisingly they weren't staying where we were. Checked in and delighted in the Aircon. Not so sure about the showers. Took a walk to the beach for a swim - at long last. There was sand which is an improvement on Nice & the water looked clean which was better than the lake. Stopped at the Marina for tea - which took a while - French don't do fast food.Les mer

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  • Le Tour July 2024

    3rd time lucky

    20. juli 2024, Frankrike ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Just the small matter of getting the car back safely, getting to the hotel, hopefully dropping off the bags & then catching the penultimate stage of the tour and all likely to be in mid 30°s
    Local roads - no tolls but slower. Left plenty of time which was a good job. Found the car hire easy enough but had to fill up within 5km. Had one in mind but it meant crossing the tram line. Uncertain where & ended up going the wrong way up a 1 way. Swift turn around and around the block except it was the most tortuous route taking in the car hire as well. Eventually filled up & headed back. Couldn't figure out how to get into the car park. Liz scooted in to check. We'd gone past, so had to go round the tortuous block again. Made it & dumped the car no probs. Tram to town from where we were (classed as the airport) was €10 but if we walked 5 mins to the Phoenix Park stop it became €1.70 - no brainer. Nice Aircon to the hotel & the hotel didn't bat an eye to us dumping the bags. Breakie and off to the tour. Pastries on the Promenade de Anglais and even at this early(ish) the temperature was hot stuff. Once at the road closures decided to head onto the road for some shade. Had a couple of blocks and was then told off by a jobs worth gendarme. Don't argue with them. Later saw one literally drag a guy over the hoarding off the road. Headed back a block for a shadier walk into town. Took in the fan park - very busy & very hot. Weren't giving away stuff - had to do competitions or stuff. Tried to get a fan but got pasta. Strange that the only bike manufacturer there was Brompton. Took in the Caravan for a third time and settled down in a shady spot to await the cyclists. Turned out we weren't on the route so a quick rethink scoot & re settle in a shadyish spot. Again very busy. Hate to think what it'll be like tomorrow. Chatted to an Elderly English couple that had flown in just before all the computer chaos - lucky. The cycling wasn't chaos. Glided by as if 35° was nothing at all.Les mer

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  • Le Tour July 2024

    L'arrivee finale

    21. juli 2024, Frankrike ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    A unique situation requires a unique response & such was Nice's responsibility - organise a Tour finale outside of Paris. The first of 2 stages had passed off smoothly. Now to the party. Not being party people, the fireworks would have to suffice. Unfortunately they were the final flourish way past bedtime. Decided to play it safe for tea - find the highest rated Thai restaurant nearish to the beach. Took in a wander round the harbour, with all the ridiculously expensive yachts. The Thai was in the rabbit warren that is the old town. The waiter was taken with my Feyenord top - found out as a fake when asked who my favourite player was. Oops. Very nice food. Wandered down to the beach & realised things were busy & loud. Couple of photos and scarper to find somewhere to sit & wait in relative peace. The DJs eventually finished & the main event - a combination of drones & fireworks. Initially thought they were using the drones to skimp on the fireworks, but nothing could be further from the truth. The drone animations were stunning and the fireworks spectacular. Only catch was getting back - the trams would either be a sweaty sardine can or have finished so a walk back it was. Got back to discover the bites on my ankle had been rubbing on my trainers throughout the night & had blistered spectacularly or rather disgustingly. Opted to wash them & hope they eased by morning.Les mer

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  • Le Tour July 2024

    Contre la montre

    21. juli 2024, Frankrike ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    The big day - the final day and the race of truth against the clock. Unfortunately there wasn't as much riding on it as the organisers would've hoped. Unfortunately also the blisters on my ankle weren't subsiding as I hoped. Putting any footwear on risked bursting and infection so a quick trip downstairs to reception to ask for help - fortunately she spoke great English and located a dressing, tape and some dodgy scissors. Also told us where to find an open pharmacy - Sunday meant most were closed. Couple of tram trips and thankfully minimal walking. Bandaged ankle badly and hobbled to the tram. All pretty easy except managed to miss the escalator up. Pharmacist spoke English & Google helped as well. Got some jumbo blister plasters which he assured would do the job. Just get me through the time trial will do for me. Managed to get back to the tram in time for the return to still be part of the outward price so that cheered me up. Got plastered up & by now breakfast had pretty much passed so early lunch it was - sarnies on the prom, drops of rain & angry seagulls into the bargain. Plenty of cyclists heading into town. Decided against the Promenade de Anglais - whilst you'd get 2 views of each cyclist, guessed that it would be hideously busy. Instead, got the tram to the port and walked out of town along the route until we found space & there was plenty of specs. Also meant that it should be easier to get the tram back - didn't want to be walking back - that's what caused this blistery mess in the first place. Saw Cav & his final stage & it turns out that I was at his first stage as well - the London prologue in 2007. Nice. Suspect he didn't do much better in that. The good thing about where we were was that we could wander about and get different views. Saw some of them haring downhill, some coming into a dicey bend (Danish corner) There was a raised side street which offered an aerial view of the race and someone's celebration BBQ. He offered - but we declined - the 20m drop and the heavy handed police meant crossing was impossible. All communicated with gestures. Wandered back down to our preferred spec opposite Danish corner. The cyclists slowed down for the bend and it was quite lively as well, also had some Slovenians. Managed to keep upto date with what was going on through the app and watched a little bit of the ITV coverage - a world away from the last time trial - a piece of paper with the running order and hoping to find a big screen to get some vague idea of the winner. Knew the stage winner before we got on the tram. Back to the hotel to see the presentations and to find out Liz had won the fantasy cycle game by 4 points. Quick dash out for tea and pack for a very early start.Les mer

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  • Le Tour July 2024

    Illegal apple strudel

    22. juli 2024, Tyskland ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    A 6.50 flight is always going to be challenging but having an 8 hour layover probably doesn't help. Such is having a flight re-arranged. Thankfully a taxi wasn't necessary - the first tram got in at 5.15 which while not the usual 2 hours was pretty close and the airport itself wasn't too busy so a couple of Euros was better than a taxi fare. All nice and smooth - boarded just as the sun was rising over the hilly backdrop of Nice. Aisle seat helped with my ankle - not sure trecking around Frankfurt was going to be the smartest move but hey what else can you do with 8 hours to burn. Pilot caused concern with his weather update - rain in Frankfurt & a wintry 17° Made it to Frankfurt airport by 8ish - no rain. Lies. Locate station and grab some breakfast was the priority. Google rather concerningly was stating that the walk to the station was 35 mins - mad considering the train into the city itself was 12 mins. More lies - 15 tops - but then Google is American. Tickets sorted, breakfast scoffed. Off to Frankfurt. Just need to find the correct platform - first try suggested the next train to the city was in an hour - surely not. Went back up and located the sign directing to trains to Frankfurt. Duh. Limited wait and a quick transfer into town. A couple of options stood out from the tourist suggestions the internet had produced - couple of towers to go up - Main Tower and the cathedral. In all likelihood the cathedral probably wouldn't have a lift so was rejected. Main Tower's lift covered the 54 floors at 18kph no less. Great views of the skyscraper frenzy that is Frankfurt. Considered the hop-on hop-off (ho ho) bus to avoid too much walking but a combination of price and time kicked it into touch. Short walk to the old town and the market square and then down to the river. Walked across the Old Iron Bridge & spotted the river cruise quay. There was a 50 min option that offered a different perspective and avoided walking too much. Went to get some drinks and cakes first and made sure we avoided the loud teenagers when on board. Didn't strike me as their thing & the way they conducted themselves suggested they'd been steamrollered into it. Glided along the Main, eating our cakes and listening to the delayed English commentary. It was only on our way off board that we saw the sign stating that no food was to be consumed on board. Ho- hum. Walked back along the river to the station via a very eclectic part of town - all manner of different restaurants and shops. Train & back into the clutches of air travel. Wouldn't let us go though the EU passport aisle - "it's the rules" If so why were we allowed to do that just 6 days ago. Sod Brexit and all its shittiness. Once through discovered that most of the restaurants were located in the rest of the terminals which were open to all but because we were through passport control we couldn't get to. Overpriced sarnie it is then.Les mer

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