Yes yes, I know that's not how it goes.
But it's Bastille Day, and I am watching the peloton ride through the beautiful French country side. They are in the Pyrenees, near the Spanish border. This is the first day in the South of France, after the first week in the Netherlands and Belgium, and then in Normandy and Brittany. I keep picking out villages to vacation in, and castles to lord over. Hard to decide what to settle on.
Really, I just want to sit on a balcony with a breeze fluttering the curtains, a croissant on my plate and a big bowl of café au lait right under my nose.
Makes me think of a morning just like that, when I was - gasp! - hitchhiking back home from the Mediterranean. I forget where I was exactly, but I can see the picture in my mind - the clear blue bright light, green pastures, and the Massif Central rising in the background. Was that the Puy de Dôme? And the guy who gave me a long ride through half the country in his Peugeot, what was his name again? He lived near Marseilles, and worked in some manufacturing plant. I sure got lucky to get a long pull like that.
Back to the Tour de France. I was going to go with a couple of my coworkers three or four years ago, but then I pulled out of the planning when my cat got diagnosed with diabetes, because I had no idea what to expect in terms of her care and my finances. Now that she is gone, we are talking about a French vacation again. I have a reminder in my calendar for mid-October, after the route for next year gets announced; then we'll get together and start talking about plans.
Where to go?
Alps, Pyrenees? Normandy or Brittany? Paris at the end? La Manche? The Grand Départ has been announced for Mont Saint Michel, near the English Channel. Visiting the Channel Islands, Guernsey and Jersey, that would be interesting too.
And I keep looking at pictures of Sisteron. Check it out, isn't it pretty?
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