Cootes in France

Today is our last full day of the tour, and also the final day of the Tdf. Alberto Contador of Spain wears the tour leaders jersey on todays stage, and due to Tdf etiquette means he wont be attacked today - so barring a fall or mechanical breakdown, he is the winner of this years Tdf.

Our ride today is a particularly special one; using 'velib hire-bikes' - these are the pedestrian hire bikes which are dotted all over Paris and available for free hire (subject to a refundable bond) - a fantastic concept now used many places throughout the world. Demand for these bikes is very high today with the finish of the Tdf, so off very early at 5.45am to make sure I actually get one. Lucky I did as I had to go to three hire stands before I found a spare bike available - you hire them via a vending machine so very simple. A very 'Parisian' way to see the sights of Paris...these bikes have a wicker-basket (for baguettes and vin-rouge), and even include a built-in flower holder!

This weekend is also the start of the French school holidays, and as such most Parisians leave the city for the country - leaving a very empty Paris indeed.

Our ride heads out early at 6.30am; amazing to be riding the streets of Paris with NO CARS! First we cycled to the Notre Dame cathedral (empty), then the Louvre museum (empty), then the Pace De La Concorde (empty), before cycling up the middle of the Champs Elysses to the Arc De Triumph. The Champs Elysses is the finish section of todays Tdf race and therefore barricaded off on both sides, and closed to all traffic; many gendarmes out in force today....what an awesome experience - noting that the cobbles on the Champs Elysses are really bumpy (quite glad I've got the velib bike today rather than my road bike). Had a few photos at the end of the Champs Elysses before riding around the Arc De Triumph - with NO CARS! (For those of you not familiar with the Arc De Triumph roundabout; its the busiest roundabout in the world, about 7 lanes wide (unmarked), and where the oncoming traffic has right of way! - its normally chaos and therefore no-one is insured while on the roundabout. And here I am today.......with no cars, amazing.

Then we cycled on to the greatest French landmark of all - yes the Eiffel Tower, and again no cars at all - before heading back to our hotel. Amazing to think we were at all of these places only a few short weeks ago, and then they were all crowded out...........unbelievable contrast.

Tonight is our tour groups 'last supper' at the very impressive 'Train Bleu' restaurant at the Gare De Lyon train station. Its just like a French palace inside with lots of fine paintings and lots of gold-gilt. You can just imagine this being used for royal and society balls back in the glamorous days of the early 1920's - very beautiful, and a fitting end to a fantastic tour................

This mornings ride along part of the Tdf time trial course heads out at 6.15am; so tired I'm not doing the ride today.....had breakfast then went back to bed for an hour; a fantastic chance to catch up on a bit of much needed sleep.

Then wandered through the centre of Bordeaux to view the Tdf time-trial start area; lots of people around today as the time trial is a fantastic chance for one on one viewing of the race; the cyclists start off at 2min intervals from a special start-ramp area - a good chance to get photos. The course is barricaded off on both sides of the road, and each cyclist is escorted by a motorcycle mounted gendarme, then followed by their team car with spare bike and wheels etc. The two boys on our tour managed a great coup today; they got to follow one of the team riders in the Garmin team car (NZ cyclist Julian Deans team).

Lots of stalls near the Tdf start area selling team jerseys etc today; so I brought a retro Molteni cycling jersey from the 1960's (the team Eddy Mercx used to ride for) - very pleased since I've been after one of these for a long time now.

Headed off later in the afternoon to the Bordeaux TGV station, and caught the fast train to Paris; again a very quick 3hr trip.........really liking these fast trains! Then just a short walk to our hotel near Montpanasse.

Left our hotel early this morning for a long 5hr coach transfer to St Emillion, en route to Bordeaux. Weather still overcast but gradually improved to a sunny clear day at St Emillion; which is a beautiful world-heritage (UNESCO) protected town with grand old buildings, cobbled streets etc. St Emillion is the centre of the Bordeaux wine growing region and therefore lots (and lots) of boutique wine shops, wine cellars and cafes etc. Visited an underground cave wine-cellar; noting that the most expensive bottle of wine I saw was a 1947 Rothschild's priced at 28000.00 Euro!!!!!!!! and yes they had quite a few cases in stock...

From St Emillion we mounted our trusted steeds once again and rode the beautiful 55km through all the vineyards en route to Bordeaux - very spectacular passing a few grand old chateaus; noticed the real estate is prohibitively expensive near St Emillion, with vined land in the region of 10,000,000 Euro per acre (no wonder they charge so much for the wines).

Arrived at Bordeau which is an 'industrial' but still very historic city; arriving on the opposite side of the river so cycled across the amazing Bordeaux bridge - the Tdf stage has just finished in the city centre, so we rode through the Tdf course, which already was being dismantled by the massive Tdf rigging crews - rode past various TV crews giving rider interviews, so quite likely our group seen on international TV somewhere.

Todays eveing meal is not part of our tour package; so our tour 'bachelors' headed out into the town for a meal out - found this amazing restaurant which has ONE mains only on the menu - sliced pan-seared duck breast with French fries and salad - it was absolutely gorgeous and quite unlike anything I'd ever tasted before. It turns out the chef spoke good English and until recently was a racing cyclist - so we chatted lots; he explained the concept behind the 'one menu' restaurant which he said works well, and sounded good to us - and all washed down with a very nice bottle of Bordeaux; there you go Miles - as you said I can't go to France and not have at least one glass of wine!!

Mmmmmmmmm the weather has turned and our planned ride up the holy grail (Col De Tourmalet) is in jeopardy......this is one of the rides I really wanted to do; one of the 4 greatest rides and very much steeped in Tdf history. Vital stats are 19km climb at an average of over 9% to an altitude of of 2115m - a serious climb.

The temperature has dropped to single digits at ground level, very wet and thunder/lightning. We've been told its snowing/sleeting up the Col De Tourmalet and temperatures at the top is about 1deg. Weve also been told the last 3km to the top has been closed by the gendarmes (so would never had made the top anyway) - but the real risk is if we ride up and the gendarmes close the whole mountain to up and down traffic; we could be stuck on the side of the road for half a day. So the guides have restricted the ride to 1 hour up, then straight back down to the bus..........summing this all up its not a very appealing option for a number of reasons (mostly not being able to make the top), so I've reluctantly decided not to ride again today (as with most others), and instead spent most of the day at the small alpine village at the town of Luz St Sauveur, near the base of the Col De Tourmalet. Quite a few good alpine sport stores and interesting to note that sports gear and clothing is much cheaper than in NZ.

Spent much of the day watching the Tdf on TV in various cafes, until about 3pm when the Tdf riders passed through Luz St Sauveur; despite the weather the town is still bustling with 1000's of spectators. The gossip in todays Tdf is that the NZ rider Julian Dean was warming up prior to the stage start and a gendarme mistook him for a member of the public on an otherwise closed road; so wrestled him to the ground and damaged him and his front wheel - no doubt will be a big inquiry over that one!

I've decided to take today as a rest day off the bike......still quite tired after yesterday. Slightly overcast with light drizzle, but still warm. Went to the massive Lourdes cathedral in the morning; very ornate with beautiful mosaics at the entrances - and 1000's of people making their pilgrimage and lighting candles etc. Went into the grotto and saw the statue of Mary - and washed/drank some of the holy water from the many fountains (with 100's of others; many filling their small and large water bottles).

Went for a walk through the town. Very busy and bustling with people - and had McDonalds for lunch - gee it tasted great; now don't get me wrong baguettes and cheese are great up to a point, but sometimes you just need a great big greasy burger and fries, washed down with coke - and today was one of those days! Unsurprisingly, although eating well, I've lost a lot of weight - the beer gut has totally gone yet the legs look like kauri tree trunks - bet that wont last!!!!

I've been told theres a really good bike shop about 5km ride away, so decided to ride out to it to see if I could get a souvenir France cycling jersey - funny thing that although France is a cycling nation, I haven't yet seen ANY cycling shops - where do they get their gear from? Upon arrival at the shop there was a great big queue outside - they were limiting shop entry on the basis of one out, one in - and once inside it was very saddening to see an understaffed shop, largely out of stock (no L or XL jerseys left!), and a till queue about 10 deep - all on which is probably their busiest day of the year!. The French really know how to miss a good business opportunity and this was a good case in point...........but as we've noticed before they done seem to mind, being quite happy with their day-to-day lot. Cest' la vie.