the tour and some.

reading new blog posts is like eating candy or getting a present; it's that exciting, bubbly feeling you get inside.

and writing is like giving a present; it's almost like sharing a talent with someone, because writing is a talent.
some people have it, however; and some people don't.

anyway: for the events of today, i will continue.

Had a nice morning of sleeping in, and breakfast.
Then, some reading.
I am getting towards the end of the second book of The Lord of the Rings.
Please, if you LOVE the movies, YOU WILL READ THE BOOKS.

There are SO MANY THINGS in the books that the movies don't include!
You would all be so incredibly disappointed, let me tell you.
It's extremely eye opening, and I thoroughly enjoy reading these books.

And now. Coming to you LIVE FROM FRANCE;
please enjoy....
the rundown OF..

LE TOUR DE FRANCE!
so if you are religious watchers of the tour, you know the rundown of how it goes. they talk about the stage, the difficulties of it, blah blah blah, then they interview some racers and get the show on the road. they sometimes get shots of the team cars with all the spare wheels and bikes on top, publicity, and some other cars, but thats usually it.

what they don't show you....
is that there is actually a PARADE before the whole thing.

yes. here's how it goes:

they close the roads off about 2 hours before the cars come by.
spectators by then have already got their places all parked out.
(us included; we brought a picnic for lunch.)
then, after about an hour, cars come by selling souvenirs of the tour,
t shirts, umbrellas, hats, pens/pencils, etc.
i bought a t shirt and a hat, and some other things. all yellow. all adorned with "le tour de france".
then, after about 20 minutes, what they call "publicité" comes through.
this, my friends, is the parade.
they have cars, a hundred cars, flying by at probably 40 mph throwing things out that they are trying to publicize.
from this little parade, i accquired quite a few little prizes including:
two boating hats
candy
packets of brioche
nesquik
a newspaper,
and a beer can opener.

haha. it was great. i felt like a little child at home again.

then, after a hundred cars passed us over the course of an hour,
THEN the celebrities started coming.
yes, like real celebrities. Movie stars, politicians, etc.
of course we didn't get to see them. that would be mayhem.

but then after THAT, FINALLY, off into the distant sky, YOU COULD SEE THE HELICOPTER.
the helicopter filming the peleton, and the racers.

the leaders came, they were 3 minutes ahead.
there was so much going on, and they were going so fast, it was hard to let it all sink in.

then, the peleton came.

man oh man, was that exciting!
but, as soon as they came, they left.
it was then all over.
but,
then came along a few stragglers.
then,
several minutes after,
another few stragglers.

Turns out, (we found out later on the news)

there had been a huge crash in that stage. (Stage 5, for those of you following)
so sad for those racers.
you could see the blood running down their legs.
i thought that was kind of cool.
still sad though, painful too.

then after that, it was over.
the thing i find most interesting about this whole experience is the fact that there was so much going on,
and it was so incredibly hard to take it all in at once.
you can't follow one person with your attention the whole time, like you can on T.V., and slowly shift your gaze to other racers,
within 25 seconds, they are there and gone.
it's quite interesting.

so, that was my day of the tour.

then i went shopping afterwards for about an hour. bought 3 things.
but that's not exciting now, is it? see what i mean? (see post below).

good night to you all.