sam and the city

Stunning, just stunning

Good day faithful readers. The weekend just gone was the third weekend in a row that I had left work Friday afternoon and jumped on the nearest plane or train to France. And, I have to say, that of the three weekends it may well have been the best.

The reason that I was in France on this occasion was to watch the Tour de France, which on Saturday was traveling between the towns of Beziers and Montelimar. In order to get a prime viewing position this meant leaving very early in the morning. Unfortunately it seemed that everyone else in France had the same idea, and it certainly wasn't helped by the long weekend traffic. Nevertheless, we made our way to a nice spot about three quarters of the way along the route, just in time to see the end of the caravan of vehicles that precede the race.

We didn't have to wait too long before the swarm of helicopters overhead indicated that the cyclists weren't too far away. The first to come past was a group of five riders. Given our proximity to finish line we thought that the peleton would be right on their heels, but we had to wait a surprisingly long time. When they did come past Floyd Landis' Phonak team was on the front trying to prevent the yellow jersey slip from their leader's shoulders... then, like a flash they were gone. Such is the nature of the watch cycle racing live. We rushed off to find the nearest TV so that we could see the final results.

On Sunday we headed over to the Alps. Not to see more cycling, but to visit a French exchange student, who had recently returned from my town of origin in Australia, and her family in the beautiful town of Novalaise. When we arrived in the town we momentarily thought that we were lost, but then the sight of a house covered in Australian flags made us realise that we were probably on the right track.

After being treated to a very nice lunch we were given the grand tour of the town. The first stop was Lac d'Aiguebelette, which for me was instantly marked down as one of the most stunning lakes that I had ever seen. As soon as we stepped out of the car and walked down to the water line I had an overwhelming desire to just strip off and jump in the water... and this is from someone who only ever swims in pools, and even that is when I'm training! Beautiful turquoise blue water, stunning mountain backdrops. It's no wonder the population of the town more than quadruples on warm summer days.

After visiting the markets and stopping off for afternoon drinks we headed up a very narrow, very twisty, quite mouth watering road to the top of Col de l'Epine, which acts as a backdrop to the town. All day we had been seeing paragliders floating around above us, but now we were taken for a close up view to where they take off. Apart from on TV I'd never seen paragliders take off before, so I was amazed at how they simply ran toward the edge of a shear drop... and then just gracefully floated off. On such a gorgeous day it was no wonder that there were so many people up in the air.

After that unfortunately it was time for me to head off to the airport and come back to London for another weekend. Be in no doubt though. Next year I'm definitely taking some more time off work to watch the Tour de France in the Alps. And when I do I be dropping past Novalaise to go riding on those fantastic mountain roads and swimming in that beautiful lake.

If you're reading this Fanny. Thanks to yourself and your family for a most wonderful day. Hopefully I'll get to see you all again when I drop past next year.

posted by sam @ 7:01 pm