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.