Thursday 13th July

For weeks now the excitement has been growing.  The Tour de France, which is certainly the biggest Sporting Event for this country, was starting in our small town of Eymet.. Slowly the decorations have been going up, strings of plastic flowers – yellow and white, green and white and red and white.  The Thirteenth Century castle was even draped in ‘rider’s shirts’ made of the flowers, and the square was covered in flowers like the spokes of a giant bicycle wheel.  Yesterday, (Tuesday) they started closing roads into town, and for a while we were worried that we wouldn’t be able to get our visitors (Mum, Dad, and my Siser and her partner) into Eymet.  In the end there was no problem.  As the evening progressed there seemed to be more and more people in the town, many gathering in the square.

This morning (Wednesday) I was up early to open the Café.  Surprisingly few people around at Seven.  Even the Boulevard, where the race was beginning was quiet, but overnight the starting line and a lot of booths had been erected and barriers along the whole road.  By Eight it was getting bus, and then it became a mass of people walking from the Car Park to see the race.  We were incredibly busy, breakfasts and sandwiches and coffee, but we managed to get everyone served somehow and closed the Café at 12.30.

My Sister and her partner and my Dad were somewhere near the start line and I set off to get as close as I could.  I missed the Caravan, which had set off two hours earlier, full of Sponsors cars and bikes and throwing ‘goodies’ to the crowd.  There were a couple of big screens and we watched as the race formation was set-up and the lead riders interviewed.  Then the exciting countdown and they were off.  Exciting and exhilarating to be a part of such a great Cultural event in France.

Well, that was about it.  Fantastique – and the huge crowd quickly dispersed into the town again.

This evening there is promised entertainments in the square, live music and a disco. So, not quite over yet.