Chasing Le Tour

A very unexpected side benefit of spending a week in Hirtzbach was the news from Heather’s cousin that we would be in the vicinity of one of the stages of the Tour de France. To back up a bit, when we were in South Africa and had our fateful day of driving with Cam Brown, one of the things Cam shared was that he and his family were big into the cycling world. When we said we would be in France in early July, he pointed out to us that was when the Tour de France was on. He spoke of how cool an event it is, and encouraged us to check it out if possible. So ever since South Africa it has been a blip on our radar screen. Not enough of a blip to purposefully adjust our itinerary, but hey, if it was going to be in our backyard then we would be foolish not to go!

A bit of research on the Tour de France site showed that the local segment would start in a town called Belfort and wrap up at a place called Porrentruy. The cyclists would be traveling 157km for the day, but since we had a car we figured we would head for the start line and then make our way as well to the finish. One good way to sell the idea to the kids was emphasizing one aspect of the tour that I wasn’t aware of - the caravan. Cam had explained to us that a caravan of sponsor vehicles goes out in front of the cyclists and tosses promotional goodies to the crowds that line the route.

Once we arrived in Belfort it quickly became apparent how big a deal this was. The tour route changes every year, and it is a big boost to the smaller towns to be one of the stops. We saw posters advertising not just the tour, but the specifics of the Belfort stage.

We came across the finish/start staging area as well as the riders village and of course, the souvenir booth.

After a little exploration, shopping, and staking out our space, it was time for the caravan. Back home we are used to things like these moving in a somewhat slow pace, casually handing out items to bystanders. Not here. The cars whooshed by us as small projectiles were hurled our way. After a bit we realized that if the car was beside us already when it threw something it was already too late. We started to adjust our sights, when poof - suddenly the caravan had moved on down the road. Got to admit - just a bit disappointing.

Next up after a brief wait was the actual race. We had were stationed around the corner and down a bit from the actual start line. We saw the flashing lights and the motorcycles coming, and then suddenly there was a mass grouping of people in spandex. As we looked to focus on the famous “yellow jersey” we were struck by two things - how tightly packed the riders were, and how quickly they were gone. They were followed by their entourages with other bikes and equipment, as well as numerous other vehicles.

Once Belfort was done it was time to move onto Porrentruy. We had rented a GPS for our week in the Alsace to relieve some driving stress and were surprised that it didn’t come up when we tried to enter it. We had already seen directional signs, so off we went going old-school on how to get there. After a couple of turns we realized the error - Porrentruy wasn’t in France after all. It was in Switzerland! A recalibration of the GPS quickly followed as we again embraced the new school.

Once there we found our spot and awaited the riders. I wandered down to have a look at the finish line and was again amazed at the logistics involved in setting this up. Especially as they do this for 23 days!

I made my way back as the caravan was passing by. We were there too late to get the good hat/shirt schwag, but I was able to catch a couple of the flung projectiles and bring them back to the kids. They were already well in hand scooping up assorted goodies.

Suddenly we could hear the whirl of the helicopters that we had seen at the start of the section and we knew the riders were on their way.

This time the pack was well spaced out (as you would expect after 157km). The stage leader rode by on his own, accompanied by 4 motorbikes and a car with back-up bikes. 

We saw the second and third place riders locked in a dead heat, and from there on there would be smatterings of riders coming by, some closer than perhaps we expected!

It was truly amazing just how close you could get! But just like at the start, the last rider went by and it was now time to trek back to France and continue our Alsace adventure.

A Whirlwind Week in the Alsace

The second part of our France tour with Joanne and Simon had us travelling to a small town called Hirtzbach, which is in the Alsace region very close to the German and Swiss borders. Hirtzbach itself is very, very small. We ended up there due to the graciousness of one of Heather's extended family, who have a house in the town that they very kindly lent to us for the week.

Main street Hirtzbach

Frisbee time in front of the house

Hirtzbach was the perfect staging area for our all-out assault in seeing many of the cool things in the Alsace region. Our destinations included:

Rheinefalls - the largest waterfall in Europe. 

The Huat-Koenigsbourg Castle from the 12th Century offers a great view of the Alsatian plain

Like many towns, Eguisheim has a lovely square with a fountain / pool. At least for this kid

And of course the trip had to include a stop for some wine tasting!

In Thann we hiked up to see the ruins of Engelbourg Castle and climbed into the Witch's Eye

The Nazi concentration camp of Struthof was a grim reminder of the region's history

We also discovered that we were going to be close to an annual sporting event. A little thing called the Tour de France - perhaps you've heard of it? But that's for another post....

Getting Reacquainted

First off I want to thank Simon for so enthusiastically taking up the challenge to write a post for the blog. He put a lot of thought into it and it was great to see his perspective on coming to France. Simon is a persistent dude - he was telling his Mom back when we were all in PEI on how much fun it would be to meet up with us.

One of the unique challenges in keeping the blog updated is finding the time when you are in "go-mode" trying to see and do as much as you can. Case in point for us - Paris and the Alsace.

This is my third trip to Paris, and of course Heather is a Parisian veteran after working there for a year. Paris to me is one of those cities where regardless of how much time I have there, it is never enough.

We actually got into Paris a couple of days before Joanne and Simon's arrival. We found the building and got inside using the security code the owner had provided to us. Easy.

The next step was to get the unit key from under the butterfly doormat. Heather located the doormat, only there was no key. Now we had just a wee bit of doubt start to creep in. We wondered if maybe we were wrong, and we were supposed to be at the next unit down the hall (there were no numbers on the doors).

So Heather proceeds down the hall and lifts the mat.Voila - the key! She uses it to open the door and cautiously look inside and say hello. No answer, but something seems a bit off. From behind her I could see that there appeared to be someones stuff in the doorway, and there was a lit room just off the doorway with a closed door. A closed door that was now opening with an  older woman emerging from it.  A brief bit of confusion and communication followed, where it quickly became evident that yes, we had broken into this poor woman's apartment by accident. We explained about the missing key and she very graciously connected us with the local landlady who let us into the real apartment.

Once that bit of social awkwardness was behind us we started our exploration of Paris. The first night was went walkabout with the intent of simply getting to the Seine River. On the way we saw the first of many Parisian landmarks, the fabled home of the Phantom, the Paris Opera House.

From there we continued to head whichever way the river was. Of course, when we finally got there, there was this very tall point object off in the not-too-far distance that we decided should be our new target destination for the night.

The main attraction of the next day was a trip to Per Lachaise cemetery for Chloe to get a lesson in pop culture with a visit to Jim Morrison's grave. Both Heather and I had visited it in the past, and we were curious whether it still was the "hangout" place it was back then.

After giving Chloe a crash course in the Doors and answering questions about how he died and what the difference was between his death and Michael Jackson's (I'm not quite sure how that connection was made) we arrived. Very different and organized with Jim's grave actually having fencing around it now. A few people paying their respects, but definitely not the hippie hang-out that it was 20 years ago.

The unexpected part of the Per Lachaise visit happened as we made our way to an exit. We came upon a number of grave sites marking the passing of people who had perished in WW2 at Nazi concentration camps. The numbers were astounding, and a grim reminder of what the people of France experienced not too long ago. Personally it made me reflect on how fortunate I and others of my generation have been to not have to experience that which so many have. I wondered if I would have stood up to the challenge. I'd like to think so, but thankfully it's one test I have never had to take.

The rest of our visit to Paris was a whirlwind of activity as we were joined by Joanne and Simon. One of the mistaken assumptions we made about the trip was that we would encounter many other families along the way and there would be many opportunities for Chloe to play with kids. Nope - the poor kid has had to essentially make do with her parents as her main source of playmates for many months. It was great to see how quickly Chloe and Simon got reacquainted with each other.

Their reaction after having to sample escargot

The reaction after experiencing Thunder Mountain at Disneyland Paris

This is Thunder Mountain for any who have yet to have the pleasure



The rest of our time in Paris had us going from exploring the catacombs beneath the city...

Alas Poor Yorick.....

...to climbing the steps of the Eiffel Tower to get  top deck view of the city

All roads lead to the Arc

....to some catching some wind and burning some rubber in the Jardin Du Luxembourg

Chloe - tell your Dad to stop playing with our boat!

Racers start your engines!

.... to climbing the sainted steps of Sacre Couer

....to getting some culture at the Louvre, Musee d'Orsay, Versailles, and Notre Dame Paris always managed to remind us why we do love it so.

Mona and the Paparazzi

The wall of misfit paintings right behind Mona's wall

One of the only things in Musee D'Orsay you can take a picture of. Unlike say...The Louvre

The majestic Hall Of Mirrors from Versailles

Joanne hoping for a drink

Notre Dame

Au revoir Paris, nous serons de retour!

Taking a Break in Bretagne

Have we mentioned that Chloe has not been overly happy about our decision to stay warm all year?  She has realized that she's an all-four-seasons kind of girl and since arriving back into the southern part of Europe has complained that it's been just too darn hot!   As Paul and I have decided where we should go (with input from Chloe as well) we decided that Chloe should have a chance to choose our next destination.  She could take us as far north as she wanted as long as it was within France and wouldn't take more than 1 day to travel there from Montpellier.

She took up the challenge, did a little research and chose the Brittany area.  Together we looked at possible places to stay and settled on St. Malo.

As it turned out, Chloe couldn't have chosen a better location for us to spend 5 days to "chill-out" before our visit to Paris and the arrival of our friends Simon and Joanne.

The little square in front of our apartment.
Ours was the 3 windows just below the
roof line.  Our 9th apartment through Airbnb. 

The weather was wet on and off and a little cool but that didn't stop us from enjoying the town within the walls (intra-muros) in St. Malo.  The area was intensively bombed during the war and many buildings and much of the wall of the old town were destroyed.  The city has restored the old town and it's surrounding wall and it is a lovely place to wonder on cobblestone streets and walk on top of the walls.

Part of the cooling down process.

We were told the tide can change up to 10 metres in St. Malo.
This is the view of the walled town from the lighthouse.

As many of you know St. Malo isn't the only attraction in the area.  One of our days took us to the even lovelier town of Dinan.  (IMHO)  The pictures speak for themselves,..

And of course we couldn't be in the area without a visit to Mont Saint Michel, the abby on the hill or as Paul noted, the perfect lair for a super-villain.

Plotting world domination (insert evil laugh)

We left the area rested, definitely cooled down and ready to take on the sights and lights of Paris.

Bruce Almighty

In my old working life I had the good fortune to see many of the great (and some of the not so great) bands of the past 30 years. The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, U2, Elton John, Savage Garden - I have been there and seen that. There was always one performer however that eluded me. I have never seen Bruce Springsteen live. Sure he has played Vancouver before, but I was always inhibited by the need to go to the show with someone else. In hindsight that seems pretty stupid, and is definitely on of my takeaways from this trip. It's obviously great to share an experience with someone else that you can then reminisce with over the years and many beers. But to not do something you really want to because you would have to do it solo? Not me. Not ever again.

When we were in Chile last NovemberI had seen concert posters promoting upcoming Pearl Jam (yep - seen them) and Peter Gabriel (seen him too). While we were gone before they played, it made me wonder who else might be out touring. A quick check of the web unearthed the nugget that The Boss and the E Street Band would be in Europe in the spring. So as our travel plans for Europe became finalized I looked for where it would be possible to see the show. The answer was Montpellier - a city on the southwest coast of France that I had never heard of.

Montpellier itself is a pretty cool college town with the requisite funky old area that features tiny streets that you just want to get lost in. We did some wandering checking out the local attractions which included a wake board course where you didn’t even need to have a boat! 

After a day of wandering it was time for the main attraction. I bid adieu to Heather and Chloe and caught the tram to the local arena. Once through security I made my way to the floor. and checked out the crowd. Thankfully there were lots of other people in my demographic, and I could see Bruce shirts everywhere. As the floor area was general admission I worked my way as close as I could get (without being a jerk - unlike some others. I guess it is the polite Canadian in me) and settled in, thankful for being tall.

At 8:20 the light went down and Bruce and the Band hit the stage, belting out “We Take Care of Our Own.”  Bruce took us down The River through The Badlands on the way to The Rising and back via Tenth Avenue (where it was a bit chilly) to celebrate being Born In The USA (even though most of us at the show weren't). A highlight was during the encore when Bruce went and took a sign that a fervent fan had been waving all night that featured a song request. He took the sign from the fan, showed it to the band, then turned around and shared with us what we would be hearing next. I don’t think I have ever enjoyed “Fire” more, and I can’t imagine how the person with the sign felt.

But just as all good things do, the show finally came to an end. It was one of the best concert experiences of my life. They played close to 30 songs over a 3 hour period, many that I knew and many that I didn’t (but do now). I left the arena feeling good that I was able to tick one more item off my bucket list, and hoping that this would not be the last time I would be able to cheer for the Boss in person.

Where the Other Few Live

Ever since seeing that Selena Gomez movie last summer we just had to make a side-trip to explore Monaco. We wanted to see this iconic locale for ourselves, as well as answer the question of what is the difference between Monaco and Monte Carlo?

Once we figured out the local train system we were on our way. It took about an hour to go from Cannes to Monte Carlo, a lovely ride that had us hugging the shoreline of the Riviera the whole way.

Upon arrival we made our way to the Royal Palace, where we took in a bird's-eye view of the area as well as some local history.

Heather on the climb up to the castle

A statue of Francesco Grimaldi, a sneaky dude who dressed up as a monk to sneak into and capture the castle from the Germans in 1297

The view from the top - notice the boats?

The palace entrance

One of the things we noticed throughout Monaco was the presence of Grace Kelly, the famous actress who became a real-life Princess. All around we saw signs commemorating her, and in the church by the palace her gravesite was the only one with flowers.

Once we were finished at the top we moved over to see the other famous landmarks of Monte Carlo.

Le Casino de Monte-Carlo, featured in the Bond movie "Goldeneye"

Le Hotel de Paris, featured in "Monte Carlo" starring Selena Gomez

La Plage - which was built by the Prince to give his subjects a place to enjoy the sea

Aside from the fancy people in the gorgeous buildings, the other thing we discovered about Monaco is the stylish manner in which people get around, both on land and at sea.