Alistair here - So Ian and I went to see the Tour this weekend. Great trip, but tiring and I was not even on my bike. We took the express train (3.5 hours, 2 stops) to Paris and then walked to the river Seine near the race course. I knew where I wanted to watch the race from (bottom of the Champs d'Elyese, near the finish) but I never realized how much of the course was blocked off. To get where I wanted we basically walked around the entire course....the long way. The crowds were thick and continued to build as the racer got closer to the city. We watched the race on one of the big screens near the finish (I need to figure out how to get a seat in the bleachers...standing up all afternoon in the heat was tiring). As the racers made their passes around the city, everyone (me included) put our hands up in the air to take pictures. We were about 6 people back and there were at least another 6 deep behind us. I wanted to watch the awards presentation but access was limited so we watched from the back of the stage. Unlike the Dauphine Libere (see my June post), we couldn't get anywhere near the team vehicles or riders; again it was all blocked off. Very cool to be there for the final stage.
Then it was back to the train station (more walking) and the overnight train to Bremerhaven (Northern Germany). I tried to get a sleeping car when I bought tickets the week prior but they were all booked so we had "lying down" spots. I was expecting an airline type seat but was pleasantly surprised by a 6 man berthing compartment, just like in the Navy! The beds were a little hard and the racks (beds) were not that big, but it was bigger than what they have on submarines so I couldn't complain. There was only one other person in our compartment and the trip went by fast (no rocking and rolling like on a ship, just rolling along the tracks).
After arriving in Bremerhaven and a short taxi ride, we arrived at the car pickup spot. The car was not ready (supposedly they did not know I was coming) so we had to wait about 2 hours. After signing for the car it was off to customs and more waiting. 45 minutes later I made it to the window for my quick transaction (3 stamps on the documents and I was done). We were on fumes so a stop at gas station (using military fuel coupons to pay the base price of $4.40 a gallon instead of the ecomony price of $9 a gallon) and the autobahn was calling. There was not much traffic and, as Ian pointed out on his post, we made good time. Our average speed for the trip was 65 mph and we were definately not the fastest ones on the road!
Our "tour" ended at 8:30pm as we arrived home. We were tired but happy having seen the tour up close and retrieving our second car.
Now I need to go for a ride!
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