The finish line (or at least a wee view of it)

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Geo: 43.6085, 3.87921

Thursday, July 4, 2013

First of all: Happy Birthday to Dejo!!!!
We started the day with some coffee, and a baguette from the food truck. Dejo went to retrieve the towels from the clothesline, only to find that they were gone. We don't think they were stolen on purpose (they weren't new, not pretty, not large). More likely, some fellow was sent out by his wife to get the towels off the clothesline, and he – not knowing any better – just grabbed all the towels he saw, including ours. How far into their trip until he got a tongue-lashing? "Whose towels are these??" “How should I know?” “Where did they come from?” “You told me to get the towels, so I got the towels.”

We found the bus stop, for a ride into Montpellier to see the finish of today's stage. Well, we found one of the bus stops. This was a moment when – if we were on “The Amazing Race” – the camera guy would be getting a shot of the place where we were supposed to be as well as another team getting on the bus that we missed. You see, when we asked one of the local utilities workers where the bus stop was, he pointed to a sign not 20 feet away. “Merci!”, we replied and stood by the sign. We tried to figure out their schedule, and while we could see the schedule FROM Montpellier to here, we couldn't quite make out the schedule from here TO Montpellier.

For good reason.

The camera would have been pointing to the other bus stop, another 70 feet away, where the bus going TO Montpellier was stopping. We saw the bus just as it was pulling away. So, another half-hour later, we caught the next bus. The bus took us to a shopping center where we caught the tram into town, and then another bus out towards the stadium where the race was finishing. With our sandwiches and Cokes in our backpacks, we just needed to find a spot from which to watch. We decided on a location from which we could see the live TV coverage (though the commentary in French wasn't going to help us very much), and maybe see the cyclists zoom past.

Maybe.

We know plenty of lovely Australian folks, but the ones in front of us were not part of that crowd. Granted, they had gotten there early to claim their spot, but they were unrealistic as to how much of that spot they'd be able to keep. Here's what happens: You show up at 10, and claim a spot. You place your chairs/towels/coolers as far apart as you can, while still making it clear that all this belongs to one party. You hold your ground for as long as you can, and realize that people WILL crowd in, you WILL lose some space, and in the end, you hope to have maintained a slightly smaller footprint that you would like, if there were no other people at all.

The matriarch of this family, though, clearly believed that not only was she entitled to keep all the space they had originally staked out, but that the police should help her maintain that space. And that anyone who crowded in should be punished with an Aussie flag flown in front of their face. Nevermind that this also punishes folks who have stood nicely behind you, without pushing forward, for the past 4 hours.

Oh, well. This woman's experience was severely diminished by focusing solely on maintaining her little corner of the world, instead of actually watching some of the race that was going on in front of her.

So, we watched most of the race in the TV in front of us, tolerated some of the shorter people (yes, shorter than Pam) who nurged in front of us, helped the crowd shoo away a guy who tried to barge in in front of everyone at the last minute, claiming that the “leetle kid” needed to see. Well, that “leetle kid” could stand behind me and see very nicely, thank you, as he was as tall as me or better. There's holding your ground against a slowly growing crowd, and then there's keeping an over-entitled person from ruining everyone's fun.

After the race, we began the process of making our way back to the bus, and to the tram, and to the bus, to our campsite. We joined the crowd flowing away from the stadium, and much to our surprise, found ourselves walking past the team buses and support cars. Usually, they find a place for them that's a little bit removed from the crowds, and where they can get on the road more easily when they need to. But not here. We found the Radioshack-Leopard-Trek bus, and waited all of about 40 seconds before spotting our favorite rider, Jens Voigt, getting back from an interview. We shouted “Ja, ja, Jensie”, and were hoping to get a photo of him and Gnorm, but all we got was a look back and a smile. Which we're totally cool with.

The bus was running on a limited route, so we hoofed it a ways down the street before thinking about trying to get on. The streets were unbelievably backed up with traffic, and it was clear that even if a bus were available to get on, it wouldn't be traveling any faster than we would on foot. Besides, on foot, we could pop into the Intermarche to pick up some new towels (has that guy's wife figured it out yet?). Eventually, we did get on a bus, and the tram, and the bus, and back to the campsite. We ordered a pizza from the food truck (ham…seems to be a running theme on this trip), and very much enjoyed that and a beer. We also threw a load of laundry in. There wasn't a dryer, so – having learned our lesson from the night before – we set up our REI travel clothesline on the campervan, so we could keep a closer eye on our stuff (though I'm pretty sure that guy would have thought twice before picking up a pair of pink ExOfficio skivvies).

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Photos

Our (early) view of the finish line
Before the Aussie mum decided to use her flag as punushment

The team buses
And everyone just filing past......