ON THE TRAIL OF THE TOUR DE FRANCE
For quite a number of years Arthur and I have been ardent followers of the Tour de France but only from the comfort of our armchairs via at first Channel 4 and in recent years Eurosport, so one of our ambitions on retiring was to actually go and see the Race live.  We knew that we wanted to see at least two mountain stages and we also knew that the event attracted thousands of spectators – a lot of them in motor homes! So choosing where to stay and booking well ahead seemed to be critical. I found the official website www.letour.com which gave me all the info on the route, and the 21 stages over the three weeks starting from Saturday July 2nd at Fromentine Noirmoutier in the Vendee to the finish in Paris on Sunday July 24th. Full profiles on the mountain  stages with the degrees of difficulty, the timing of the stages, the towns the Tour would pass through and a map showing the complete route. From this we decided which would be best for us and the decision was made to watch stages 10 and 11 in the French Alps. Stage 10 was from Grenoble to Courchevel, a distance of 192.5 km with a 21k long and winding Category 1 climb to the finish at the Ski Resort of Courchevel, at an altitude of 2004m.

Stage 11 the following day would be from Courchevel to Briancon the highest town in Europe. This stage would include two of the most difficult climbs in cycling, the Col de la Madeleine and the Col du Galibier a distance of 173km. We planned to spectate on Courcheval and the Col de la Madeline a Category 1 climb (the most difficult) with an altitude of 2,000m. This left us with finding a campsite in between the two stages which with the help of a French speaking friend we did at a little village on the outskirts of Moutiers (Camping La Elena). We had of course seen on TV the hundreds of motorhomes wild camped along the routes of the Tour and realised that it must be possible to do this, however as we do not speak French, and had no idea what to expect we thought we would play safe and stay on a campsite. We have the bonus of carrying a small motorbike in the garage of our van so our intention was to use that to get about on. On Monday July 4th we set off from Dover to Dunkirk to drive down to our campsite Camping Elena by Saturday. This proved to be a little gem of a campsite, small, clean and very friendly with a delightful Madame Manageress. “She’s the boss” her husband was quick to point out! On Sunday we set off on our motorbike to Courchevel to check out the Stage which was due on Tuesday – imagine our surprise to find the roads already full of campers parked up in the best viewing points some must have been there for days! Courchevell is best k

nown as a winter ski resort and the1992 Winter Olympics were held there. There were plenty of Hotels, Ski chalets, Restaurants and Bars everywhere. The town is set on different levels 1500m, 1650m, and 1850m all linked by ski lifts which we learnt would be running and FREE on the day of the Stage. We decided that on the day we would try for a spectating spot near the finish at 1850m.

On Monday we went out again on the bike up the spectacular Col du Madeline to 2000m.The Stage would leave Courchevel on Wednesday, climb over the Col de Ia Madeleine (where we would spectate) and on to the finish at Briancon. Again we were amazed that motorhomes were already in place at the side of the road. The Col de Ia Madeleine was the exact opposite to Courchevel. Whereas Courchevel is a biggish brassy ski resort the Col de la Madeleine is two shops, a car park and a restaurant at the top of the pass! The drive up was spectacular with little mountain villages clinging to the side of the hill, fearsome hairpin bends and very long drops made for some hair-raising driving – glad we were on the bike! In the distance Mont Blanc dominated the horizon its snow-capped peak clear against an azure blue sky. Mountain flowers were abundant especially the delicate blue gentians and the scents were overpowering as we wound our way to the top. Reaching the summit we parked our bike amongst all the big BMW’s Harley’s etc. and we were asked by one leather clad full faced inter-corn helmeted person “Did you both come up the Col or one  behind?  “Yes” we replied “Both of you?!” “Of course” did they really think that I had run behind!

Tuesday dawned – Race Day! and we were up and off the site by 8.00am. We had been told that the roads would be closed early by the police. Already the roads were very busy, hundreds of cars and cyclists making their way up to Courchevel. The route to the top was now completely lined with motorhomes and there was a carnival feel in the air. As we pottered up on our little bike we were waved and cheered at – we felt like part of the show! Near the top we found a good spot on a steep hairpin bend near the 5K mark and decided to stake our pitch there. We were joined by two American couples over for the Tour. One couple had cycled up, the other spent the night in the car in a car park! The stage was not due through until 4.00pm so to use up some time we took a ride on the free ski lift down to 1650m for a coffee and back up. We spent the next few hours enjoying the lovely weather and wonderful scenery and the very entertaining spectacle of hundreds and hundreds of cyclists of all ages climbing to the top in 30+ degrees of heat and wishing we were as fit as them especially those of our age! The race leaders were expected at about 17.20 hours and gradually the excitement built. Race support vehicles, the huge team coaches, TV crews, Radio Crews, Film Crews, lots of Police on their big BMW motorbikes and Press vehicles from all over the world started to arrive, the excitement was mounting by the minute! The fans had been busy all day painting their favourite rider’s name across the roads while others paraded up and down in all sorts of costumes supporting their favourite riders and teams, everyone was out to have a good time but there was no bad behaviour just fun! Then about 1 hour before the first riders were due the “Caravane” (Carnival) arrived with great gusto and lots of noise – this was what the children had been waiting for!

As the Team Sponsors vehicles zipped by they threw out lots of “Freebies” such as bags, umbrellas, lots of hats, scarves, playing cards, pens, key-rings, packets of chocolates, crisps, ice-creams, drinks, sweets, the big green hands and long balloons for waving just to mention a few. The Caravane or Carnival took about an hour to pass through and then it was all eyes to the skies as we looked for the 3 helicopters circling the race leaders. From our vantage point on our hairpin bend we could look down the road to see the TV helicopters hovering over the race leaders relaying live coverage, the noise was deafening! The excitement was intense, the cheering got louder and louder, and at last we could see them! The speed and the power as they rounded the very steep hairpin was amazing. Soon the race leaders passed by and there was great excitement as we caught our first sight of the leaders and Michael Rassmussen looking so cool and calm, then came the Peleton all bunched together. Ulrich was in there somewhere – we were cheering him on! Then it was all over, 30 mins and they had all passed through. The crowd quickly packed up and dispersed, the hundreds of amateur cyclists whom we saw earlier struggling to the top now started to speed back down. The road would remain closed until 7.00pm but already the motorhomes were queuing to get back down. No problem for us though, we said our goodbyes to our American friends got on our little bike and joined the cyclists speeding down the hill and back to camp to get ready to do it all again the next day!

Once again we made an early start to make the climb up to the Col de la Madeleine, it was a beautiful morning and the mountain scenery at its best. Hundreds of motorhomes were in place along the route as many had travelled from the Courvechel Stage. Once again we got a cheer as we pottered up the hill, it was 2000m to the top so quite a climb. We found a good spot at the top of the pass and waited for the whole performance to be repeated again. The difference was that once at the top of the pass the race continued on to the famous Col du Galibier and then to the finish at Briancon. We did get a really good photo of the “King of The Mountains”,  rider Mickael Rasmussen with his pink jersey standing out well and it was every bit  as exciting as the day before we were now getting even more hooked on Le Tour! Back at Camp we decided to have a couple of days relaxation as the weather was scorchingly hot and to give the motorbike a rest as it had carried us up to 6,000ft (4 times!) and then try to pick up another stage at Mende in the Massif Central. After resting up we enjoyed a very scenic drive via Grenoble. The Gorges de la Bourne (very scenic but a narrow twisty road with overhanging rocks) and the Col du Rousset (very steep and lots of hairpins) to Die in the Drome, where we found a good campsite (mostly Dutch) with a decent swimming pool right by the River Drome. The whole area was tinder dry and as we walked around the van we disturbed clouds and clouds of grasshoppers of all sizes and colours, we have never seen so many varieties. Next day we set off towards Mende crossing the Rhone at Loriol sur Drom. Arriving in Mende we found the town already getting ready for the arrival of the Tour with banners and bunting in place and a stage and band in the town square. We found the Aire right by the river and were soon joined by 20 to 30 other vans. Mende is a lovely medieval town with a magnificent Gothic cathedral and some very old quaint cobbled streets and buildings. The next day we decided to drive up to the stage finish. The tour would travel right into the centre of Mende and depart by an extremely steep and windy hill to a huge plateau overlooking the town at 1,000m. On the plateau was a small aerodrome and this was where the stage finish would be. We decided that as it was so hot we would camp on the plateau, but as it was now Monday and the stage was not until Thursday decided to go and visit the Tarn Gorges as recommended by John and Sheila Squire. We were not to be disappointed as it certainly was a very scenic drive down through the gorge. We were even fortunate enough to see several large vultures soaring in the thermals around the cliffs. It was a bit scary at times wondering if the van could squeeze through and underneath the overhanging rocks! Another of our “Must Do’s” was a drive across the Millau Viaduct, the highest road bridge in the world. First we went to the Visitor Centre where we could get to stand underneath the amazing structure, looking upwards made me feel dizzy as the points of the bridge seem to disappear into the sky. We were fortunate to cross the bridge on a most beautiful summer evening with very little traffic so we were able to drive slowly to take in the majestic engineering. We passed through Mende on route up to the plateau where there was a road race taking place and a festival air about the town. We arrived at the plateau at about 9.30pm and although only Tuesday already there were a lot of campers in place but we found a  pitch right next to the route although a lot of chocks were needed the  area was tinder dry, surrounding the plateau was heavily forested with pine trees, the Gendarmes were on a close lookout for anyone lighting fires or BBQ’s. We soon got chatting to our neighbours – a friendly German who spoke good English and some French who did not, but we got by, (I am taking French lessons this Winter!) Wednesday passed chatting to other campers and watching the plateau come alive with more and more campervans and the whole road being barricaded in readiness for the race. A free coach was laid on to take campers to the town for the evening. Race day dawned and once again excitement was in the air as the huge crowds of car spectators arrived and we had to fight to keep our space free in front of our van! The Caravane arrived and the goodies thrown out, we were very grateful to receive the bottles of ice cold water. The helicopters arrived on schedule, the cheers went up and the race leaders came into view. The Russian T Mobile rider Alexandre Vinokourov, closely followed by  Rassmussen and Basso with a real battle to the finish. We were enjoying the Tour so much that we decided to watch the Time Trial as it was en route back to Dunkirk. We reluctantly left the plateau after three nights of wonderful sunsets and two interesting days. The time Trial was scheduled for Saturday at Saint Etienne an easy day’s drive from Mende. We passed through Le-Puy En Velay which we hope to visit some other time as it looked a most interesting town. Our hope was to find a nice quiet roadside place to camp on as after all the noise and razz-a-mattaz of the previous three stages we felt like spectating in a quieter spot. The time trial was to be held over a 50k mountain route starting and finishing in Saint Etienne. We thought as it was a time trial the crowds would be less, how wrong we were! Everywhere on the uphill section was packed with vans. With nowhere to stop, over the top we went and down the other side back towards St Etienne, then suddenly spotted a cornfield with a huge banner advertising the mountain village of Saint-Romain-En-Jarez with a couple of vans parked so we quickly checked if it was on route, it was, so we decided to stop there. What a good decision it turned out to be! Just as we parked in the field right by the road a couple of British vans pulled up alongside so for the first time since leaving home we had some fellow Brits to chat to! Then the villagers came along and invited us to join in their village bar-b-cue and festivities, so we all walked up in the evening to join in the fun. We had a very entertaining evening! The village band came out to play parading around the village so we followed, much to their amusement! Everyone was in party mood – so much for our quiet spot! The next day we were pleased as we did not get too many spectators as most went to watch on the uphill hairpins, but it was a change for us to see a downhill part of a stage. The Caravane came through again! And this time as there were very few spectators at our spot we got lots of the freebies! The first rider came through at 11am then each one at 5min intervals until the race leaders at 5pm. Each rider was preceded by a police outrider on his motorbike and then followed by a team support car. Even though they were going so fast on the downhill we had a good long view of them and it was very entertaining to watch. Before the start of each stage there are a number of official tour vans that come along selling Tour Regalia and also the Tour newspaper which gave all the latest news on the Race, so it was handy to have one of these especially for the Time Trial as it gave a list of the riders and the order in which they came through we were willing on Jan Ullrich to do well and he tried so hard on the Time Trial the determination on his face obvious as he sped by. The “king of the mountains” had a bad day here falling off his bike twice but we were sure that he will be one to watch next year. This ended our tour of the Tour de France. We had thoroughly enjoyed the experience. We had seen spectacular scenery in the Alps, been impressed with the vastness of the Massif Central and delighted with the village of St. Romain. We spent 5 nights wild camping along the route which was a new experience for us and 7 nights in a delightful small campsite and met some lovely people. Altogether we decided that we had had a most successful Tour!