Ignoring the fact that this post could potentially damage the reputation of their highly regarded blog, Doug and Nancy have thrown caution to the wind and allowed me, their niece Kate, to write a guest blog.This past Sunday we headed to Ax les Thermes to watch the 8th stage of the world famous Tour de France bicycle race. Doug and Nancy staked out a perfect location; a cute café around the corner from a long descent from the Pyrenees. (We were secretly hoping for a crash so that we could see the bikers for more than the 2 seconds it takes for them to zoom by on their bikes.) After anxiously awaiting their arrival for roughly 3 hours, the first group of racers rounded the corner. The sound of clicking cameras and loud cheers rose up as blurs of color, some call them bikers, raced by. Several of the especially agile bikers cut through the cross walk to gain an extra half second on their competitors. A few more groups sprinted by and then before we knew it, a blue van with the clearly printed words FIN DE COURSE drove by, and even a novice of the French language like me understood, it was over. While it took a couple minutes before my heart rate returned to normal and my hands stopped shaking, it only took a couple seconds for me to ask, “Anybody get a shot of Lance?!”
We knew what we were looking for: black socks, black and yellow helmet, and a black and yellow bicycle. Nancy, Peggy and I carefully scanned our individual collections of pictures for the illustrious Lance Armstrong. After about an hour of searching Nancy was convinced that Lance “must have taken the day off.” However, with a reasonable amount of prodding from her over eager and somewhat obsessed niece, Nancy finally spotted him in one of her pictures- our one and only photo of The Lance Armstrong. Nancy not only captured Lance, but she managed to get a number of terrific action shots!
The day only got better when we returned home to Leran and found my cousin Noah and his girlfriend Kari had arrived. Noah must have known what sort of an appetite you can work up watching bicycling and already had a fantastic dinner planned. C’est parfait!
3 comments:
Kate - You did a great job as "guest blogger"! You made us feel as you did while waiting for action, the excitement of seeing the bikers (albeit briefly), and the need to have a picture of Lance! I am also a Lance fan, so I understand your need to have pictoral evidence!
I enjoyed every word! Luke
I am so jealous, good job with the photos and Kate I join your obsession, Lance is incredible. I have something in common with him, being a cancer survivor, and I can't get enough of him. Have you checked out his blog? I'm glad to know Kari and Noah are there with you guys, some fun days of wine and food I would imagine. Post lots of photos of Noah and Kari and you all, it's so much fun seeing you guys there all together. Leslie
Great guest post, Kate! We did so many great things in France (our wine tasting, experiencing city life in our Paris apartment, seeing the beautiful country on every drive we took in southern France, Peyrepertuse, the markets and the food, seeing the Eiffel Tower twinkling at midnight and more) but seeing the Tour was about as exciting as it gets. I have been watching the coverage every day. Lance is still doing well and just waiting for the mountains. I also found watching the TV coverage allowed me to "stay" in France a little while longer.
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