The Long Road Home

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Phoenix, AZ

As we are in the middle of our long flight home, we can’t help but reflect on what a wonderful vacation we’ve had. The eight hour flight from Amsterdam to Philadelphia, followed by the five hour flight from Philadelphia to Phoenix are grueling, but they are a small price to pay for the wonderful experiences we had at this year’s Tour de France.

We finished our vacation in the fabulous city of Beaune, France. We visited this area two years ago when we followed our first Tour and the city continues to impress.

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Final lunch in France

The medieval walls and turrets that surround the city conjure up images of ancient battles and wine-making monks. This time we had less than 24 hours in this special place but we made the most of it.

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Steve in Beaune

On our final night with our Custom Getaways friends, we enjoyed a fabulous five course French dinner at a Beaune restaurant. With great local Burgundy wine and fine cuisine, we recalled the highlights of our trip:

 

  • The rainy time trial Prologue in Rotterdam, won by “Spartacus” Fabian Cancellara
  • The up-close and personal back-stage access of the start of the race in Brussels
  • Getting Lance Armstrong’s autograph and patting him on the back to wish him good luck on the Tour
  • Riding the closed course during Stage 2
  • Crossing the finish line by bicycle and then having our pictures taken on the podium, as if we were all the holders of the maillot jaune
  • Viewing the race from the Izoard VIP area while enjoying champagne after a sprint finish
  • Riding 100s of miles through the Dutch, Belgian, and French countryside, through polders, cobbles, and vineyards
  • Spending time with new friends from across the globe—Australia, Canada, Belgium, The Netherlands, Greece, USA, and France to be exact
  • Being led by a great group of cyclists and tour leaders: Sandra, Erik, Thomas, Nico, Giles, and our driver Adrian

 

 

 

Custom Getaways allowed us to see the Tour from a perspective that few will ever experience. They executed the plan with precision and flexibility and were attentive to our needs. They adapted to our varying levels of cycling experience and worked to make sure that everyone got what they needed whether it was a short ride, long ride, no ride, vegetarian meals, or medical attention.

All great trips must come to an end. Our end started yesterday when Adrian dropped us at the TGV station in Le Creusot, France. A transfer on the Paris metro and another train to Amsterdam marked the end of our European journey. It certainly will not be our last. For now though, we will continue to follow the Tour daily on the US broadcast from Versus. We will read the blogs and Facebook posts from our cycling friends and wish that we could be there for the Tour conclusion in Paris. Viva Le Tour!

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Just another routine day at the Tour de France

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Beaune, France

Today we had one more day in the Champagne region of France. The beautiful scenery of the vineyards and the French architecture never gets old. Steve rode about 58 miles today with the “fast” group while I took the bus into town to wait for the group and the Tour de France start. The ride was a challenging one, through the hills of the champagne region. One of our group members had a really bad wipe-out, so I was glad to be in the bus.

The Tour de France is like a traveling circus. Each day a new city hosts the departure, which means they must stage the arrival of the teams, their buses, and their cars along with the publicity caravan, the press, and the dignitaries.

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Riders at the start in Epernay

Roads are closed and large event venues are assembled each day just to host the departure of the race. Then, along the race route there are sprint zones and feed zones set up by roving crews that are always a step ahead of the peloton for the entire month of July. At the finish each day, usually in a town over 100 miles away from the starting line, the same thing happens in the town that hosts the arrival of the peloton. At each phase there are moving restaurants, souvenir stands, medical tents, and the like.

We’ve been so lucky because we travel in a bus that has VIP access. For each stage we’ve visited, we have been able to drive within a block or two of the race course. As you’ve seen on previous days sometimes that means we have to drive on the actual course, across the finish line, in order to find our parking space. Spectators along the way cheer and wave to us each day as if we are something special.

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Radioshack team car

This afternoon, after the departure of the riders in Epernay, we walked down the Avenue de Champagnes. This is a beautiful, famous street that is home to some of the most prestigious champagne houses in the world. We took the tour at Champagne de Castellana and then tasted the good stuff at the end. Yum! This was the perfect thing to do before our four hour bus ride south to Beaune.

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Stainless steel vats

We will spend this evening in Beaune and have planned a nice dinner with the group. We expect there will be plenty of good Burgundy wine since this is the capital of the Burgundy region of France.

This will be our last night in France as tomorrow afternoon we will begin the long journey home via Paris, Amsterdam, and Philadelphia. What an adventure we’ve had!

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Champagne

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Reims, France

Today, we got up and cycled into the Champagne region of France. Steve ended up with a group that got lost in a vineyard and ended up riding 56 miles. Today’s terrain was hilly and much more daunting than the previous flat stages. To ride day after day like this certainly give us an appreciation of what the Tour riders go through. We’ve been doing our 30 and 40 milers before today’s longer 56 while the pros ride more than twice of that and at a much higher speed.

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Steve and the vineyards

We ended our ride in Reims, the Champagne capital of the world. We went with some of our new friends to a nice café, had lunch, shared an excellent bottle of champagne and an excellent Bordeaux red wine. Steve also ate steak tartare, and it grossed Marnie out. It looked a lot like raw ground beef with some seasoning and a little pickle relish. It may have been more than that, but Steve ate it all and said it was great. Maybe he rode so much anything would have been good.

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Champagne lunch with new friends

We ended up watching the end of the Tour on a television at a bar about 1000 meters from the finish line. Today’s stage was very uneventful compared to the excitement of the last couple of days. We’re getting to the point of being tour vets, so the TV provides all of the minute details. But the excitement and bustle of the cities is still incredible, making each day another new adventure. The race was won by Petacchi, who also won an earlier stage. The big news was that Mark Cavendish, one of the greatest sprinters in the world seemed to run out of gas in the last few hundred meters to fall from first or second all the way to position 12. As for Lance, he seemed to cross the finish line unscathed, and we saw him chatting and laughing during the middle of the stage. Once again, those guys are amazing.

Tomorrow, we’re off to Epernay. More later. Our trip is coming to an end. As always, it gets a bit bitter/sweet. We’re ready to get home, ready to not live out of a suitcase in a different hotel every couple of nights, but on the other hand, it’s the Tour, it’s France, and we’re on vacation. Plus, you can’t beat a little Champagne.

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