Day 15, our last full day in France.

Some final shots from Arreau,

and now we're on to Toulouse, "Paris without the edge"

The tower of St. Sernin, the largest Romanesque building in Europe

The Apse of St. Sernin

La Place du Capitole was hosting a  3 on 3 basketball tourney.

I love the juxtaposition of the female basketball player taking a cigarette break in middle of this 16th century place in France's 4th largest city.

Couvent des Jacobins, houses the tomb of Thomas Aquinas

Site of our last meal in France, "4 Z'Arts"

Not a Hostess Cupcake, it's moelleux chocolat!

 La Garrone

Le Pont Neuf, started in 1544 and compete in 1632

What the heck is that red devil doing?

Day 15

This morning we said goodbye to the Pyrenees and all our friends at the Hotel d’Angleterre.  I don’t think I’ve stayed in a better hotel; the quality of the rooms, the food, and the staff could not be better suited to our taste!  It’s also nice to return to a hotel and recognize and be recognized by the staff, and to recognize and be recognized by your fellow guests.  Having breakfast and dinner in the hotel provides many opportunities to interact with other guests and that is certainly one of our highlights when traveling.  Whether it’s in a hotel in the Pyrenees, or a campground in Georgia, it’s so energizing to talk to others and discover that you have so much in common.

We left Arreau at 9:30 AM and we were in Toulouse by 11:15 AM.  We parked our car at a public lot under Place du Capitole, which is right in the center of the city.  Toulouse has a population of 437,00, and over 100,000 are students.  It’s a lively, thriving city with beautiful buildings, many museums, and expansive shopping.  Some say it's Paris without the Edge.

We walked about the city checking out some of the historic buildings & churches before having lunch at a funky and very highly rated café. “Les 4 Z’arts” on Place de la Daurade. The Place overlooks a park and the Garonne River.  This was to be our last meal in France, and it did not disappoint.  Joni enjoyed Basque style veal with rice, and I had beef tartare with fries and a salad.  We both had dessert and coffee, again, this was our last meal.

After lunch we walked along the river before touring the Foundation Bemberg museum, which is housed in one of the most beautiful buildings in Toulouse.  The foundation represents the private collection of Argentinian George Bember.   The collection includes the works of Rodin, Picasso, Monet, Renoir, Sisely, and Gaugin as well as many artists from the 15^ththrough the 20^thcentury.  

Leaving the museum we enjoyed our walk back to the car through the narrow, winding streets of Toulouse that were filled with high end shops that included clothes, jewelry, cycling, toys, and music.  There must be a lot of wealth in this city.

From the center of the city we drove to our hotel, the Radisson Blu, which is next to the airport. We dropped off our luggage in our hotel room, and then turned our car in to Avis.  Our total mileage for this trip was 2480 km=1550 miles.  Our Renault Captur performed perfectly.

Returning to our hotel room via the Radisson shuttle, we watched the last six riders complete the individual time trial in the final competitive stage of the Tour de France on TV.  We were pleased with the outcome, and overall we think it was an exciting and competitive Tour, and for us I think we had our best Tour viewing experience in the eleven years that we’ve been lucky enough to enjoy.

Our flight to Montreal leaves at 8:10 AM, so we’ll be up very early tomorrow.  Our plane lands at 10:00 AM.  We plan to stop for lunch in Quebec’s Eastern Township village Sutton, and hopefully be back in Sugar Hill by late afternoon.

C’est tout.

I room, the Fauve room, the impressionists...

Day 14

 A little elegance always adds to one's enjoyment...

of your surroundings if for only a few hours...

Norwegians love the Tour...and the love to party...eventhough there are only two Norwegians among the 176 riders!  The get our most enthusiastic fans award, hands down.

Belgians also love the Tour, 

and then there are the Americans!

Here comes the leading riders at 1:50 PM

 Julian Alaphilippe, the King of the Mountains, in the polka dot jersey

4 minutes later, the Peloton arrives, lead by Team Sky

8 minutes after the lead riders passed us, the Lanterne Rouge

I wasn't wild about this salad, but I'm sure most loved it.

Duck, roasted fingerling potatoes, and ratatouille

 I don't know what this was called, but it was yummy!

Just an  after dinner walk to the post office!

Day 14

Breakfast around 8:15 AM, loaded our backpacks, picked up some pain au chocolat and sandwiches, and started our 5 km hike to our car at 9:45 AM.  The hike was easier than we anticipated; and despite stopping for a few chats and rests along the way, and we made it to our car at 11:30 AM. 

There we were at 2490', enjoying the good life, and we could even see our hotel if we used our binoculars.

Our car was still there with no one within 300 yards on either side.  There was a good breeze and a few clouds, so we decided not to put up our shade dome.  The riders were due around 2 pm so we really wouldn’t be there that long compared to the other stage viewing days some of which lasted as long as 10 hours.  Our views were spectacular, and there were still no other spectators near us.

The Caravan came by us at noon, and we collected a lot of swag, almost all of which we gave away after the race.

The racers were very bunched together since this was the first climb of the day.  The lead group that included about 30 riders passed us at 1:50 PM, the peloton which included the overall leader Gerraint Thomas passer us at 1:54  PM, and the last rider at 2:08 PM.  

When we left our car yesterday, it was actually stuck.  One of our drive wheels wasn't touching the ground, so we needed help before we could head back to Arreau.

We recruited 4 strong men to help push our front wheel back onto the road surface, and we were rolling by 2:14 PM, and with minimal traffic heading down the mountain, we were in our hotel parking lot by 2:23 PM.

It was a real treat to be back so early, so we dropped our gear off in our room, and headed into town for some ice cream.  We checked out a few shops, but a couple more souvenirs, and returned to the hotel. Joni started packing our clothes since we’re going to Toulouse tomorrow, and I took a quick dip in the pool. Heavenly!

We then joined the Aussies in the hotel bar and watched the last 40 km of today’s stage on TV.

Our last dinner at the Hotel d'Angleterre was terrific.  Duck was the main course and it was incredible!

While we were finishing our dinner a man who was dining at another table came up to us and said, "did you have trouble with your care?"  Suddenly we realized he was one of the five that pushed us out, as were the other gentlemen with whom he was dining!  We thanked them profusely again!  It's a small world, even when you're in France.

Lastly on our way out of the dining room, another couple that we thought we recognized from previous stays here stopped us and said they recognized us from previous summers.  They are Dutch and couldn't be nicer.  We sat down at their table and had a wonderful conversation for another 20 minutes.  They too thing Trump is a clown.

Day 13

Festivities in Trie-sur-Baïse where Stage 18 began=Le Depart

The stage where they introduce the individual riders before the start of today's race.

The view from behind the stage, the announcer is trying to rev up the crowd.  He succeeded.

Education First's bikes, #13=Lawson Craddock

We left our car along the Col d'Aspin for the night, hope it's still there tomorrow!

Looking down to Arreau from the Col d'Aspin

Our dinner menu

 We asked for a substitute for the rabbit.

A beautiful morning in the Pyrenees.  Today’s race did not go up any mountains; it’s what they refer to as a sprinters’ stage, and that makes it difficult for spectators to get close looks at the riders since they are going much faster.  So our plan was to watch the start in the village of Trie-sur-Baïse, which is only one hour north of Arreau.  We have never seen the start of a Tour stage so this was interesting. The focus is far more on ceremony, rather than competition.  

Reading today’s sporting newspaper, l’Equipe, it appears that the French writers have declared that Chris Froome’s reign is over.  I think that’s premature, there are still two very competitive stages left, so I think it’s premature to count him out.

Our breakfast today was the usual OJ, croissants, tartines, and coffee.  It was nice not to have to rush out to secure a viewing spot. Have I already said the Hotel's breakfasts are wonderful.

The drive to Trie-sur-Baïse was an easy one along two lane roads that crossed the rolling farm country just north of the Pyrenees.  When we were just outside the side we followed the crowd and parked for free in a large field and then walked about 1 km into the town which is famous for its pig festival, “la Pourcailhade”.  The festival involves displays, pig races, eating contests and other competitions. The most popular competition is "Le Championnat de France du Cri de Cochon" ("French Pig-Squealing Championships"), in which contestants have to imitate the noises pigs make at various stages in their life.  No doubt this is farm country.

But today the town was celebrating the Tour de France and everyone was out in full force. The town was crowded, and in addition to regular Tour watchers there was an additional type of spectator at the opening activities of “Le Depart”.  People in wheel chairs and walkers who would never be able to walk along the road to watch the race where out and smiling.

The temp was 90+°F so we were constantly moving into shady spots whenever we could find them.  We bought a few Tour souvenirs, checked out the stage presentation where each rider signs-in, and watched the parade of team buses with the riders inside and their bikes trailing behind on the roofs of their team cars.

Two hours was enough, so we then returned to the car and searched for a place for lunch. All the local place were closed or inaccessible due to the start of the Tour, so we headed back to the Pyrenees and the spa resort of Bagnères-de-Bigorre.  It was 1:45 pm, so many restaurants were now closed for lunch, so we settled for pizza at a seedy café.  The pizza was OK, but there were a lot of smokers near us. Fortunately a very nice English family was sitting right next to us and we struck up a very enjoyable conversation with them.

Leaving Bagnères-de-Bigorre, we drove over the Col d’Aspin where we will be watching tomorrow’s Stage 19.  We decided to leave our car along the route for the night so we we be guaranteed a good spot, so we walked down, a little of 5 km to our hotel.

Dinner was very good.  They were serving rabbit, however so we asked for an alternative main dish, which was steak.  We’re just not adventurous enough to try rabbit eventhough it is very popular in France. Our waitress agreed.

After dinner we walked to the local post office to drop off postcards and when we returned we ran into the two American families that are staying here with their five young daughters.  We chatted with them for about 30 minutes before heading upstairs to our room.