Today, we find ourselves sitting alongside the road about 1 km from Mezet. We awoke tres early to begin our drive from Roussillion, a quaint little village in the heart of Provence, to a point anywhere along the route. (For those die-hard cycling enthusiasts reading this (that's at least you Hoyt and Jason), the village of Roussillion had an incredible view of none other than the epic Mont Ventoux (if you don't know about Ventoux, take a moment to look it up on Google/Wikipedia see photos of this storied mountain that make it look like the surface of the moon -- the photo that is included here was taken with my phone, so I'm sure it doesn't do it justice).
To get to our spot today, we drove nearly the entire length of the stage. It's pretty straightforward since the route is lined with RVs and those florescent yellow TdF arrows. It's going to be a great ride today, but probably pretty hot for the riders and a few spectators as well. We've parked in the shade right now, but Angel estimates by about 1PM we will find little shelter. (And speaking of shelter, the restroom situation is going to be a much more challenging proposition today -- more people, less vegetation. Oh, again, I should have paid more attention in science class so that I could remember what poison ivy/oak/et al looks like.)
Yesterday's stage was a great start to our spectating extravaganza -- wait until we upload the video! Once we aren't driving two hours each morning and night, we'll have a bit more time to locate a Wi-Fi connection. Thus far, I've been doing all of our photos and posts you see from my phone. Angel hasn't even seen/read them and is a bit curious to see what I've been saying. She has her our journaling going on as well, just in "vintage" format (i.e., pen and actual journal). The race was amazing yesterday, the sponsor caravan not so much. In all our time at the Tour, never have we left a stage without a single piece of merchandise from the caravan -- key chain, hat, newspaper, non-alcoholic Buckler beer, but yesterday, not a single thing! Not even the kids scored anything. (An aside, it's 1:20PM and there is a rooster crowing across the street.)
It wasn't until we were at the café this morning that I was able to check yesterday's stage results -- wow, Cavendish and Team Columbia are on fire! We still love you Chipotle.
Time for lunch -- a little vin de rosé, baguette with cheese, tomatoes and lettuce, and some melon. (We should have picked up a little pastis to go along with our picnic but there is a guy up the street with a full bottle we might be able to bum some off of.)
Au revoir for now, friends and family.
Angel & Tim.
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