Vive Le Tour

Not Paris. But where I landed.

 As usual I cannot control where the text goes, but these zillions of pictures were all Paris related.

Street scene in Belleville

You know...Triumph

Confusing British-Spanish jerseys on the last day of the Tour

Sign indicating the sprint

Parade

As Bugs Bunny once said to Elmer Fudd, "Nice lookin' chapeau..." The soon to be ultra popular yellow jersey urban sombrero

The Seine

A mythological figure

Clever

Churchill

This guy got in a fight with some British people near me. The Brits yelled in his face and told him that they would throw him out. I had heard that people are violent about holding their positions on the Champs Elysees, and they are. He reacted strongly when these younger British guys moved in on his spot, and then they retaliated. I guess they got the last laugh when countryman Bradley Wiggins won the Tour.

The yellow jersey arrives

 I apologize that there are 4000 pictures of the cyclists. The problem was that I had to wrangle my position, and then among that position I had to fight to take pictures, plus I was afraid that this geezer might retaliate at me. So, I just put the camera on rapid shot or whatever it is called since you could hear the peloton before you saw it, and you basically had no perspective of how close they were, so it was easy to lose your position. There was a humming, buzzing sound, and then you saw their ridiculous cadence fly by, pumping out at breakneck speed on the so-called easy day of the Tour. It was really amazing to see, and the only day where you could see them at least twice is in Paris.

The emotional component to this day wasn't there as I expected it to be. That can happen. There was so much to contend with, getting a spot, even being able to see, drunk British people everywhere. That all made feeling the moment hard. It is hard to feel something when you are craning your neck to see. It was special that Bradley Wiggins pulled for his teammate and countryman Mark Cavendish to win the sprint stage, an exposure risk that the yellow jersey does not normally take. I did not see this but was somehow able to hear it and understand on the French race radio that blasts incessantly at the event.

When Bradley Wiggins won all of the Union Jacks- and there were many- started flying, flags not just of Great Britain but the red cross on white of merry olde England. Flags for Cavendish and the Isle of Mann came out as well. Wiggo, as he is called. made a speech in which he thanked his mother, who was probably right there since he said something about her seeing him win the Tour, apologized for speaking English (always a component of any gracious winner's speech when they can't speak French), and told the British fans there to not get too drunk and have a safe trip home. Too late. They were all already on their way. 

The old gal

Typical cafe, one of zillions. The waiter looked at me askance as I took this picture. Whatever. The French look askance more often than not. Askance is their default mode.