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| Tour de France 2012. Rue de Rivoli, Paris |
In Paris, there are very few things open on Sundays. At first, I found this frustrating. I was ready to use the weekends to run my weekly errands. The extra time is necessary since, as I said in my other posts, shopping requires going from shop to shop that are often blocks away from each other. But after of few weeks of being unable to do anything but to relax and enjoy a Sunday, I have decided that this was good practice. No guilty feeling because I am idle. No lists of things to do running through my head. Just resign yourself to relax on a Sunday. It's actually a nice way to live. The lists will still be there tomorrow.
This Sunday's do nothing outing was to watch the final stage of the Tour de France. I first thought to make my way to the Champs Elysees which is close to the finish line, but instead I found a nice spot on the Rue de Rivoli across the Tuleries Garden (easier to get home from here). I read yesterday, that riders would make it to Paris by 3pm, but by 3:30 I over heard someone say that it would be another hour. I was ill prepared to wait for that long in the hot sun. I brought neither a hat nor water. I was ready to make a bargain with these guys standing behind me- I would give them money to buy us some water. Instead, I just kept channeling the former RPCV inside me. I've spent longer than 2 hours without water under the African sun-- although I felt foolish back then too when I left the house without water or a hat....
About 3 o'clock the pageantry started. And by pageantry I mean the parade of vehicles that included sponsors, press, and crew. It was carnival like. There were float like things and large images on sponsor cars. There were cars blaring loud music and people scream things to us in French. This kept my interest for about 20 minutes, but they are not what I came there to see.
Finally at 4:30, the riders arrived. Since the race really finished up yesterday, I thought they Paris ride was going to be more casual. For a 'casual' ride, they were peddling faster than I expected. I brought my DSLR camera, but it was not fast enough to capture the riders whizzing by me. Thankfully they make their way around the route eight times before heading to the finish line. This gives the spectators ample opportunity to get their perfect shot.
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| Lots of spectators, but still room to move. |
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| Parade before the riders arrive. Sponsors put weird stuff on their cars. |
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| Mickey is a fan of the Tour de France. |
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| After waiting in the sun from 2pm-4:30pm, the riders finally arrive. |
