Butch & Gina’s French Vacation
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Yes, we did it!  As most of you know we flew across the big pond for the Tour de France.  We were hoping to see history made - Lance’s 6^th Tour win.  Of course, we were not disappointed.  And it was a great experience. 

Our Tour de France adventure was orchestrated by a bike travel company out of Vancouver, Canada.  From my research I found out that most tour companies were booked for the 2004 TDF by Christmas 2003.  We did not make up our minds to go until May 2004 so by that time I could only find one tour company with any openings.  The only reason  that company was still booking was because it had just opened up 16 new spaces.  We met the tour group in Avignon, France (the south of France) on July 19, which was a rest day for the TDF.  However, we were told to be Already to ride. Butch and I had traveled to Marseille on the 17^th to do a little R&R on the Mediterranean.  I absolutely loved Marseille and have every intention of going back.  The Mediterranean was beautiful and Marseille has history going back to the B.C.’s.   The only snafu was a luggage issue. Due to a storm in Memphis our flight to Atlanta was delayed so we missed our connecting flight in Atlanta.  We barely caught the next scheduled flight to Paris - our luggage missed those flights.  In fact, it must have missed several flights after that because we didn’t get it till Sunday night, the 18^th.  Luckily we had a bunch of carry-on so we still managed to have fun in Marseille. 

We met our tour group in the beautiful town of Avignon.  I would like to go back there to actually spend time visiting it.  When we arrived at our designated location there was several vans and people milling around the hotel parking lot.  It was very disorganized and it was over an hour before we found out which van we were assigned to and met our guides.  Because this was our first trip we decided it would be easier to rent the bikes from the tour company.  Butch got a big Cannondale, almost like his old one.  I ended up with a bike that was way too small for me.  I got to trade it about 2 way through the trip for a larger one, but it had a long stem on it and handlebars as wide as a bus steering wheel so it didn’t work either!  Next time - I take my bike!  Several in our group brought their bikes, but I think most rented bikes.   We brought our clipless pedals, a Camelbak, water bottle, and a bike tool.  The total Great Explorations Group was 160 people.  We were divided into groups of 16.  Our group consisted of  the ones that had signed up in the spring - the late comers.  We had two vans - eight people in each with two guides.  Our guides were a 30ish couple from the Vancouver area - both were athletes - Susan and Dominic.   They were new to the TDF, but they had done several summer biking trips with Great Explorations in North America.  What they lacked in experience they made up for with enthusiasm and trying to please.  There were two other Canadians in our group as well as one Brit who had married a Texan and now lived in Houston.  The rest were all from the U.S. - North Carolina, Washington D.C. area, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, LA, Wisconsin, and Houston.  It was a great group ranging in age from early 30's to 53.  One half of the group were couples; four members of the group were attached but traveling without significant others; and four were single.   There were 8 women and 8 men.  One of the single women was an attorney from LA whose cycling experience was teaching spin classes at the gym.  She had no bike handling skills - the first day she looked like a 6 year old learning to ride.  But she was brave - she even came with clipless pedals - yes, I said clipless pedals.  She said she fell at least 2 dozen times that first day.  She was covered in grease by that evening.  But she was tough.  She never gave up and rode everyday!  We got to know these people rather well as we spent a total of 7 days traveling, riding, and eating with them. 

 

Our first day of riding was somewhere in the South of France - don’t ask me where.  We were handed a map and told to meet at a little village (Bouchet) for lunch.  I took off with some of the slower members - Butch took off with the fast group. Everyone missed the very first turn off which was about 100 yards from the vans.  It was a sign of things to come.  However, it was a lovely ride through vineyards and beautiful villages that looked like they had been there for centuries.    As we were riding on one country road we came upon two CSC riders doing their rest day ride.  I think it was Jens Voight and Jakob Pill. We actually passed them!!!   I said hi and good luck.  They both smiled and said thanks.  After we passed them I told Clark who they were.  He thought they were just riders dressed in CSC apparel.  Clark was smart enough to bring a camera so he went back to get a picture.  I haven’t yet seen the picture, but I will show it around when I get it.  After I got home I was so mad at myself.  I should have ridden in between them (they were riding side by side) and had Clark take a picture.  Wouldn’t that have been a great bragging photo?  A little while later they came blowing past us.  I took off as fast as my fat old body would go and managed to draft behind them for about one-half mile till we got to a village where they veered to the left.  Because I had no idea if I was supposed to go that way or not I stopped.  I know what you are thinking - they must have been going really really slow for me to keep up with them and you are right, but even then I almost went anaerobic trying to stay behind them.  Later we had a wonderful lunch on tables set up outside under a row of old trees with spreading limbs that made a perfect shaded canopy.  We ate off real plates and drank out of real wine glasses!  No paper or plastic!  The woman who cooked our meal served the food on a giant platter and encouraged us to eat, eat, eat.  Butch said she reminded him of one’s grandmother - always making sure there was enough to eat for everyone.   Villagers told us that Lance and Jan had ridden through earlier in the day (not together).  Butch attempted to talk to some young teenage boys who were sitting on a bench across the street watching our activity.  Butch’s French (none actually) wasn’t  as bad as their English, but they were definitely not fluent.  They asked where the group was from and if we were riding in the Tour.  Butch explained our trip (in English).  They made the remark that we had Apretty women in America.@  Oh how I love those French!  After the wonderful lunch we took off for an afternoon ride which was to end up at our hotel in Grignan.  We got lost on the afternoon ride and rode in what seemed to be circles around the French countryside, but we saw a lot of beautiful places, we just don’t know where we were.  We did finally end up at the hotel, but it was late.  We barely had time to change and get to the wine tasting.  Then we went for one of those wonderful 3 hour French dinners.  By then it was time to hit the hay (no a.c. by the way so we slept with windows open).  The hotel was charming.  When we first arrived the owner/manager insisted on showing us to our rooms.  Susan said that she insisted on doing that for each of her guests.  The rooms were spotless and had a lot of personal touches - more like a bed and breakfast than a hotel room.  She had lavender scents on all of the towels and washcloths (this was one of two hotels where we were given washcloths - for the most part the French don’t believe in those.  Luckily I carry my sponge with me).  My observation of the hotels we were in - and we were in a total of seven hotels - was that they are much cleaner than in the U.S.  They lacked a lot of the amenities that we are used to (such as washcloths, cable, shower curtain, shower curtains that fit, and room to move), but the standard of cleanliness is much higher.   There are no screens on the windows, but all of our hotels had functioning shutters.

 

The next morning we took off on our bikes to Valreas for the start of Stage 15.   We were given several different riding options - some long - some short.  Butch and I took the short route (my request) because I didn’t like my bike AND I wanted us to get there early enough to take in the festival atmosphere.  We were glad we took the short route.  When we arrived, Valreas was already filling up and it was hard to maneuver through the crowds.  In fact, we missed the Caravan because we were trying to fight the crowds to get some food and find a place to leave our bikes.  We managed to worm our way through the crowds to find a decent spot to observe the race.  It was a narrow street and the riders went by very fast.  That’s it - a few seconds - and its time to go.  Before leaving our spot I took a photo of Butch with his banner.  For those of you who haven’t seen the banner it is a 4' X 2' yellow banner with a drawing of a blue train labeled USPS.  Underneath it said Not even Superman can stop the Blue Train.@  Some people paint the roads with their statements, others bring flags, others dress in costumes.  Butch had his banner.  Anyway as I was snapping the photo several people stopped to look at the banner.  Afterwards, a father pushed his kids forward next to Butch and asked if he could take a photo.  Several more French families with kids stepped up and got there photo taken with Butch.   Butch and his banner may not have made OLN but he was popular with the French.    Then we met up with our group and rode the bikes a few miles to where the vans were parked outside of town, loaded up and drove to our next destination, which was in the Alps.  We stopped at a hotel bar on the way  to watch the end of the stage.  There were four team buses parked outside - T-Mobile, Cofidis, and two others which I can’t remember.  The bar had a large screen tv and we went inside to watch.  There were team employees inside watching the race.  We let out a cheer when Lance won.  The others in the room looked so dejected.   I felt bad for rubbing it in.  Butch talked to two Mavic representatives.  They said they had to support Jan because T-Mobile used Mavic.  They said Lance used to, but Trek put pressure on him to use the Bontrager (Trek owns Bontrager).  Those guys think that Lance still prefers Mavic and they are hopeful he may go back to Mavic.  Our hotel that night was in Lans en Vercour, a ski village - beautiful scenery- that was close to the town where the stage ended that day.  On the way up the mountain (at dusk) all of the spectators, buses, tour officials and cyclists were making their way down from the finish on top of the mountain.  To this day I wonder how many cyclist were killed or injured on that descent.  It was wild! 

 

The next day was the big day -  Alp d’ Huez!  We had several options.  A couple of guys took off and rode the entire route from the hotel to the Alp.  Butch and the rest of the guys (except John) drove to some point between our hotel and the Alp, parked the van, and then rode to the Alp.  Two women and Susan drove to Grenoble to do some shopping.  The rest of the women (including me) and John took off on bikes to Grenoble for a 27km ride - 5km up the mountain to the peak and 22 km down the mountain!  What a rush!  The traffic was gone by then, the fog had burned off, and there was beautiful sunshine and beautiful scenery!  When we got to Grenoble five of us took the bus to the Alp - the rest stayed in Grenoble to do touristy things and watch the time trial from some nice cool cafe somewhere. When we got to the Alp we had to walk a good mile or so to get into the little town at the base.  The crowds were huge.  We immediately took off up the Alp hoping to find Butch and Gerald.   Sue (Gerald’s fiancée) and I lost the other three who had traveled on the bus with us as we were racing through the crowds and up the mountain.  We finally reached Butch and Gerald by phone and they told us  they had been stopped about 4km from the top after they were on their way back down and were stuck there.  Sue and I walked about 2.5 km up and stopped.  It was burning hot that day, but what a day!  The crowds were wild, but well behaved on our section of the Alp.  We stood in that hot sun for hours watching, yelling encouragement, and trying to communicate with our non-English speaking co-spectators.  Then we walked down, back to our bus, and headed back to Grenoble to find our group.  Butch and the guys rode back to the van they had parked somewhere on the way and then met us in Grenoble.  We then packed up and headed off to another Alp ski village.  It was really really late when we got to Francois Long Champ, and the hotel staff was not happy that we were late.  We couldn’t even take time to change clothes before eating.  Imagine - all of those people in bike gear that they had been wearing since 5 - 7am that morning and after spending hours and hours in the heat!  Whew!  We gobbled down dinner - drank our share of French wine - and collapsed in bed well after midnight!   We opened our windows (no ac) and let the cool Alp air in!  It was refreshing! 

 

The next morning was the first even remotely relaxed morning we had because we planned to watch the race as it came by our hotel - no traveling!  We had a leisurely breakfast and then got our bikes ready for a short ride.  Once again there were a couple of options.  Some people took off to climb the Col d’ Madeline which was a 5k climb to the top and then ride on to our hotel in a town on Lake Annecy, stopping to watch the race somewhere along the way.  Butch and I opted to ride to the Col and then come back down and watch the race, and then drive to Annecy.  This is the day I got the bigger bike.  We switched pedals, got it all set up, and then I noticed!  There were only two chain rings!   AWhat@ I yelled at the guides!  They said they thought all of the bikes were triple, but apparently this one slipped by them somehow.  So my choice was to switch everything back to the smaller bike or attempt to climb a mountain with a double chain ring.  I opted for the latter even though I would never make it the entire way.  I did manage to make about 2 or 2 2 miles though.  I would pedal standing up as long as I could - then I would stop and rest.  Keep in mind that we had no warm up.  We left our hotel parking lot and immediately started climbing.  Butch says that the climb to the Col was steeper than Alp d’ Huez.  He said that the switchbacks on d’ Huez leveled out and gave one a chance to recover - those to the Col did not.  It was fun having all of the spectators already parked on the side of the mountain cheering me on!   Butch wore his postal gear.  He said some people would yell Go Postal. Others would yell Doper, Doper.@    At one point as Butch was just getting ready to stop and rest  a small group of young boys came running up beside him yelling George Hincappie, George Hincappie and hi-fived him.  Of course, he was forced to push on after that, but with that kind of encouragement I’m sure it wasn’t that difficult.   The most difficult part of that day’s ride was getting back down the mountain to our hotel.  The race officials were speeding up the hill in cars, vans, and on motorcycles and you had to get out of the way or get run over - they didn’t slow down or stop!  Spectators were riding or walking up in droves.  People on one side of the road would cross to the other side without looking.  It was an obstacle course!  Gendarmes (the police) would yell at the cyclists and make us get off of the bikes.  They wanted us to walk down.  As soon as they got out of eyesight I would get back on my bike till I came up on the next one who would make me get off.  When I got back to the hotel I changed clothes and patiently waited for the return of my husband and the tour to come through.  Both took a while.  Butch made it to the top of the Col, but when the Gendarmes made him get off and walk down he didn’t get back on his bike even after he got out of sight.  The day before Butch saw a Gendarme on the Alp d’Huez grab a guy who was riding contrary to the Gendarmes instructions and push him into the barricades.  Butch didn’t want that to happen to him so he walked the entire way down from the Col.  Finally he arrived and finally the Tour arrived.  It was fun.  A band was playing and all of the people cheered for each rider.  We got some pretty good shots as the riders climbed by us.  Then we found the rest of the group who had stayed there, loaded up the vans and took off for Annecy.  We stopped on the way at a street-side café in Albertville to watch the end of the race.  The two Canadian homemakers unloaded their bikes and rode the trail to our hotel near Annecy.  The rest of us drank and ate local cheese and watched the end of the race!  We picked up a couple of other people in our group as they rode by (the ones that had started from St. Francois Long Champ that morning intending to ride the entire way).  After tasting the cheese and drink they decided to stay with us instead of riding on to Annecy.  Four hardy souls who had started early in the day rode on to the hotel.   We arrived at our hotel in Annecy - late as usual.  This was the worst hotel of the entire trip - a small cramped room with no ac and it was hot!  There was no cool alp air until well after nightfall.  We took a shower in a bathroom that is about the size of our 2 bath downstairs (really really small).  Then we had to drive the 6 miles or so into Annecy for dinner.  There was some sort of parade or festival going on and it was quite a party atmosphere.  We ate at a wonderful restaurant - again it was a 2-3 hour dinner.  Then we drove back to our hotel and tried to sleep.  Unfortunately with the windows open we had a lot of traffic noise so we didn’t sleep much.  It was either suffocate or listen to traffic. 

 

The next morning I opted to run on the bike trail into Annecy (about 6 miles or so).  Butch and some of the guys took off for a ride around the mountains of Lake Annecy.  Others rode the bikes directly into Annecy for some shopping.  I packed a swim suit in my Flash Flow and as I got into Annecy I stopped at a beach and swam in Lake Annecy.  It is so beautiful and clear.  It is a glacier lake and cold.  Then a storm came up.  Then I got lost in Annecy. Then I found the group. (There is a lot more whining to this story.  If interested enquire further).  Then half of us traveled to Lons-le-Saunier  to watch the end of the stage.  The other half hung out in Annecy and then went directly to Beaune where we were to stay that night.  Lons-le-Saunier was so crowded by the time we got there it was almost impossible to see anything of the finish.   We milled around till we finally found a spot to squeeze in as the riders came into town.  Once again it was just a few seconds as they whizzed by.  Then we fought the crowds back to the van - stopping at a Chocolatier on the way so we would have the strength to go on!  Oh what good chocolate those people make!  We then traveled to Beaune arriving very late (of course).  We barely had time to shower and change before we went to the restaurant for the obligatory 5-6 course meal. 

 

The next morning in Beaune everybody rode but me.  There was a long route and a short route for the cyclist.  Butch took the long route.  I ran instead of biked.  I first ran into the city center but it was jam packed with people at the open air market.  I then ran outside of town on a trail that ran alongside the road.  I beat everyone back to the hotel so I had time to shower and head into town for a while to visit the market.  It was great.  They had a flea market like here - but with French stuff.  There were rows and rows of vendors with fresh flowers, herbs, oils, and some of the most beautiful fruits and vegetables I have ever seen.  Then it was time to head back to the hotel (at which time I got lost again, but did eventually arrive where I was supposed to).  Half of us were going to Besancon to see part of the time trial  - the other half were going to hang out in Beaune and then go on into Paris.  We drove to Besancon and watched the first part of the time trial.  Once again there were hordes of people, but we got to see quite a bit.  We didn’t get to see the top riders because they started last.  However as we were trying to figure out how to get past security into the barricaded area where the team buses were located, Richard Virenque rode right past us.  He took everybody by surprise.  He is the French hero, you know.  In Paris I saw a board game called APlay with Richard Virenque. uhmmm.   We couldn’t stay to see the top riders take off as we had to get to Paris which was quite a drive from where we were.  After driving an hour or so towards Paris we stopped at some café in some quaint, beautiful little village and watched the end of the time trial.  We were the only ones in the place except for the owner.  Vi, the LA attorney, struck up a conversation with him.  She was the only one of the group other than Susan who could actually converse somewhat in French.  She liked talking to older men - the reason being she said they talked slower so she could understand them better.  After watching the end of the race we headed out for the long drive to Paris, stopping once to take photos of sunflower fields.   We got to Paris late - around midnight!   We were dead tired when we got there and we had a great hotel, but Butch and I ended up with a terrible room with no a.c. (and we had been promised a.c.).  I raised heck at the front desk and the next day we were switched to a good room.   The Canadian homemakers who were traveling together while their husbands watched the kids, had a room that overlooked the street.  This was the street that the riders circled on their way to the Champs d’ Lysee.  There was even a balcony.  We also had tickets to stand at the finish.  Butch and I made our way down to the finish to check out our standing spots.  We had to decide whether to watch the race from the balcony of our hotel while drinking Kir or stand at the finish.  The crowds were so bad we got tired of fighting our way to our section that we decided to stay at the hotel.  From our 5^th floor balcony we saw each of the eight laps the riders made on their way to the Champs d’Lysee.  We were glad we stayed at the hotel.  We had a wonderful time with everyone and we got to watch it on tv while we waited for the riders to come by AND we got to drink Kir while we watched.  Later (at least two hours) as we were going to dinner for our last dinner with the group, Butch and Dominic got separated from the group.  As they were making their way to the restaurant they saw a group of excited people and went to see what was going on.  They discovered it was Lance, still in uniform, still on his bike, making his way through the crowd.  Butch videotaped him as he rode right into his hotel lobby.  At our last dinner Dom and Susan gave awards to each member of the group.  Butch got the gadget award@ because he took 3 digital cameras, a GPS unit, and an MP3 player to France with him.  I got the GPS award for getting lost the most (I haven’t mentioned it, but I also got lost in Paris).  The next morning we said our goodbyes to the group and promised to stay in touch.  So far, two people from our group have posted their pictures on foto or Shutterfly.  We have had email contact with a couple of others and everyone has promised to post photos.  We intend to, it just takes us awhile.   In any case, Butch and I agree that the trip was well worth it.  It was an experience to remember.

 

After our tour group disbanded we remained in Paris to sight-see for a couple more days.  It was two busy, busy days as we tried to take in as much of the sights as possible.  We visited many  pastry shops (Patisseries) that appeared on almost every block.   We visited three cathedrals, Unity, Sacre Couer, and Notre Dame.  We visited the Louvre and met Mona Lisa.  We rode the elevators to the top of the Eiffel Tower and dined on the second floor at a window overlooking Paris.  We explored the catacombs, and I ran along the Seine.  We had lunch in the gardens of the Tuilleries and had dinner in the shadow of the Arc de Triomphe.  We saw the Jardin of Luxembourg and wandered the streets of Paris gazing at the old buildings, monuments, fountains, parks, and history.   However, we had been gone 13 days and I was ready to get home.  Butch would have stayed indefinitely I believe.  Although I would not have missed visiting Paris for the world, it is the south of France which I fell in love with.  Butch loved Paris and wants to go back to take in all of the sites that we missed before.  In any case, we shall return!!

 

BUTCH’S HI-LITES (not necessarily in order of importance)

1.         Climbing Alp d’ Huez

2.         Climbing Alp d’ Huez

3.         Being compared to George Hincappie on the Col d’ Madeline.

4.         Kir

5.         Topless women at beaches.

6.         Climbing Alp d’ Huez.

7.         The Lance sighting in Paris.

8.         The five to six course meals.

9.         Did I mention climbing Alp d’ Huez?

10.       Did I mention the topless women?

 

 

GINA’S HI-LITES (no particular order)