Here in France, you can’t escape the fact that The Tour de France has started. Double page spreads as a minimum in every paper and publicity everywhere. Well, for myself, I could take it or leave it, but actually we’re getting quite excited, because on Thursday 17th July, IT PASSES OUR HOUSE! Lavelanet, our neighbouring town, is where the Tour spends the night before and then sets off in the morning. We’ll spend the evening of the 16th there too, because there will be parties galore, street festivals, general mayhem. The whole town will be closed to traffic. Notices in today’s paper tell us that on the 17th, Laroque will be too. Did you think the cyclists would get an early start to get a few kilometers in before the heat of the day built up?
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