Entry #7: 9/30/2013 7:00 PM
On June 29th I boarded a plane in Seattle, WA and flew to Paris, France. At the same time the 100th Tour de France began. Porto-Vecchio/Bastia, 213km. – Stage 1. The world renowned bicycle race starts in Corsica, France and covers 3,404 kilometers of France before ending in Paris. Versailles/Paris Champs-Elysees, 133.5km – Stage 21. Christopher Froome of Great Britain won the yellow jersey.
I remember when I was little, I did not like the Tour de France. Every morning in July I would wake up to my parents watching the Tour. I am an athletic person. I am competitive and enjoy challenging my body. I like playing games and being outdoors. However, I think watching sports can be one of the dullest activities. I would rather watch an entertaining comedy or drama. I would rather go out and play the sport myself. Big events like the Olympics and the Tour can be captivating for brief intervals. But hours of watching cyclists… just… cycle…? No merci. I never would have thought I would find myself standing on the front line at the Aux Champs Elysees to watch the finish of the 100th Tour de France.
Like all things, there were good and bad parts to the experience. We arrived early to the Aux Champs Elysees to stake out our spectator spot. We waited all day in the unbearable heat for the cyclists to arrive. Fortunately I was with a group of friends and we took turns guarding our spot and getting away to spend some time in Paris.
The street was becoming more and more crowded as the sun began to set. We had Norwegians on our left, the British to our right, a Dutchman and an Australian behind us as well as the Americans. It was a rowdy and animated crowd that waited eagerly for the peloton. Finally the Caravane appeared honking their horns and we heard the roar of the crowd in the distance. It was the culmination of a big event, the making of history, and I was standing right in the middle of it.
I remember seeing the cyclists for the first time. I wanted to take it all in, but at the same time it was surreal. They flew by us in a blur, just like in cartoons. I was simply amazed. And just as quickly as they appeared, they were gone again. On the TV it always looked like there were waves and waves of thousands of cyclists. But this tight group had passed by in the blink of an eye. Thankfully the peloton does several circuits of the Aux Champs Elysees before sprinting to the finish. Therefore we had plenty of time to cheer and attempt to take photos. It was nearly impossible to capture “the yellow blur.”
While it was a once in a life time experience, we still had to watch the coverage of the finish on the big screen. There was an attempted breakaway, but it still ended in a bunch sprint with the German, Marcel Kittel, barely besting the British, Mark Cavendish. It was rather entertaining to watch with our neighboring British spectators.
Then exhausted from the day, we found a nearby restaurant and ate pasta and drank wine on the Aux Champs Elysees with people from all over the world celebrating all around us. And now I can always say that I have seen the Tour de France. I was there, at the finish, for the 100th anniversary.
À bientôt,
Sarah