Went for a really nice ride around the area after having breakfast and taking down the tent. Had to spread out the tent and fly to dry a bit, but really not that bad considering the soaking they got on Friday night.

The ride was awesome – went away from the village thru walnut orchards on the small winding road. Eventually met a slightly larger road where I turned right, knowing that as long as I kept turning right I would sooner or later come to either the village or the campsite.

Met the ‘highway’ and turned right again, crossed the river then arrived in the village.

Road around a bit, then took the ‘alternate’ road back to the campsite.
Stopped at the office where the wi-fi is, emailed Dom to let him know I likely won’t have internet tonight but will be in touch Monday if possible.

Packed up the rest of my stuff and got on the way by 11. Headed west thru more lovely countryside, crossed the Rhone river (very large and beautiful) and up into the Ardeche (not in the Alps anymore).

Stopped at the lovely village of Le Champe-Raphaelon on top of a mountain at a ‘rough’ campsite – just a place where campervans can park but no facilities. Setup my tent on the grassy edge – discovered the stinging nettles after I walked thru a bunch and got my shin stung. Colin had a ‘pen’ of some kind that took the sting away – I think it’s more for insect bites/stings but it worked pretty well.

We walked the dogs into the village and went for a drink at a bar – everyone loves the doggies. The pic below is not the bar – it’s the church next door.

The Tour had a late start – not until 4, and they had a special bit on Thomas Voekler, who is retiring after this race.

The race will be on for at least a couple of hours, and unless someone has the guts to go for it nothing much will happen until the last half hour or so, so I took a walk. The road past where we’re parked curves around after about 100 meters and just goes back down to the village, so I went back the other way to the main road. Followed it into the village then took a road to the left that had signs for other villages.

Turned back after about 1 km as the road started going down fairly sharply and I didn’t want to have to climb back up that much. Took a quick side trip to a cemetery that had tons of flowers on the graves – some of the ‘plots’ had name plates for several different family members, and most of the flowers were plastic.

Got back to the campervan, had dinner and went to sleep early – wind was picking up and storm was coming.

Got up later than usual – heard the churchbells ring eight once, then again a minute or two later. Got up and had a nice breakfast before going up to the wi-fi area and posting another update to my blog.

Colin and I put enough laundry together to do a load in the washer near the office, then I went back and did yoga for the first time since Sunday. Took the doggies for a walk around the campground – saw the pool and recreation area – two tennis courts, ‘beach’ volleyball, children’s play area, restaurant, etc.

Did some more internet stuff – downloading pics is still a pain even though the wi-fi here is pretty good (note to Rebecca – you were right). Hung the clothes up to dry – some things were done in less than an hour it’s so hot here.

Had lunch, then watched the ITT for the Tour on tv – in French, unfortunately. Looks like the Froomster is going to win another Tour, unless someone has the chutzpah to go for it into Paris tomorrow instead of posing for pic’s and drinking champagne while riding.

Had a wonderful refreshing swim in the pool – lots of people but the pool was large enough. Lay in the sun for a bit, then went back to the campervan.
Colin got us pizza for dinner – ready in about 5 minutes and cooked in an outdoor wood-fired oven. Took it back to our campsite to eat outside – it was delicious.

It’s so blessedly quiet here – no traffic noise, only the creek and the birds, plus the churchbells, of course.

Had a pretty good sleep – was so tired after yesterday. It rained off and on, and there were four or five lighting flashes in very quick succession, but no thunder that I could hear. By the time I got up for morning tea in the van the sky was clearing nicely, although it was still a bit cool.

Went for a walk back down the hill a bit with Colin and the dogs – couldn’t believe the crowd that had gathered since we arrived yesterday – campervans and cars lining both side of the road in places and halfway down the hill back towards Chorges.

And – we have barriers and a banner! Back just a little way from where we’re camped is the summit of the first categorized climb of this stage (Col Lebraut/cat 3) and worth points for king of the mountains. We have 2 vans of gendarmes to keep us in check – good luck (ha ha).

Saw a small family that had a cat on a leash – don’t think that would have worked with either of my babies, but good for them. Luckily Colin’s dogs didn’t see the kitty – they go crazy enough barking when they see another dog, but a cat would have gotten special barks, I’m sure.

I decided to watch down by the end of the barriers, rather than in front of the van, so took my lawn chair and a book down to stake out my spot. I’m right next to a family – mom, dad, baby, small boy and grandpa. The calvacade passed around 11:30 or so – I didn’t take any pics this time because all of the ‘floats’ are the same – just tried to snag freebies. I could have gotten a nice blue hat that fell inside the barrier, but as soon as I stepped onto the road to go get it the nearest gendarme blew his whistle and scowled at me so I retreated back behind the white line – wouldn’t want to miss the race because I had been arrested or something! The woman next to me cleaned up catching stuff but I wasn’t quite as successful – most of what I got I gave to the little boy next to me, but it was still great fun – the crowd was really enthusiastic and totally into it.

The little family next to me had moved right behind the barrier (little boy on dad’s shoulders), and I let another photographer beside me so I was the second person after the barrier ended. At the last minute a young girl (one the the Spaniards camped right next to Colin and I) tried to stand right in front of us and we both said at the same time ‘no no no – photographers’, so she went across the road instead.

The riders were much more bunched up than on the Galibier, of course, and passed more quickly as the climb hadn’t been nearly as steep or long. I got several not bad shots of Froome and a few others – didn’t notice Quintana or Contador, but I took a lot of pics so they might be in them somewhere.

As soon as the last racer had passed, not that far behind the first ones, folks started to leave en masse. Banner was down in a matter of minutes, barriers being taken apart. I packed up my tent fairly quickly, and we were on the road ourselves within an hour or so. Traffic was a bit heavy until we passed thru Chorges, but after that not bad at all.

Headed west thru beautiful (what else?) mountains and valleys until we found a nice campsite at the town of Luc en Diois. Immediately set up the tent as the sky was very threatening, and it did start to rain before I was done, but got the basics covered and gear inside without getting everything soaked.

It rained so hard that the campsite’s ‘roads’ were more like creeks and I had to be very agile to jump over them all to get to the office where the wi-fi is.

Face-timed Dom for the first time since Sunday – he didn’t get my email from yesterday until I had logged in to this campsite’s wi-fi so was he very glad to hear from me. Had two emails waiting from siblings – Doug’s was ‘Dead?”, and one from Ross (for Susan and him).

Had a wonderful shower – first one in several days – and a great grilled steak dinner made by Colin. After dinner I got caught up a bit on posts, but was very tired and went to bed early. Still rained from time to time, but not like the deluge shortly after we arrived.

Didn’t sleep much between the wind, rain and talkative folks down the way. It was still drizzling when I took the tent down – left the fly intact until the last so the tent wouldn’t get too wet. The fly is dripping, the tent and ground-cover aren’t bad, but all will need airing/drying out before I setup again.

Got on the road around 9 trying to get to Embrun for Friday’s stage, but got stuck in Briancon when they wouldn’t let us thru to the highway because today’s stage is starting here. Ended up pulling into the McDonald’s parking lot to use their loo and get the free wi-fi. Since we were forced to stay in the city we walked the dogs down to see the start of the stage. Found a nice park that was full of people so knew we were on the route.

Unfortunately we had already missed the cavalcade so just waited about 3/4 of an hour for the race to come by. As the time approached the fence between the park and the road got more and more crowded, so I picked my spot and waited. First a couple of young boys, then another and then another squeezed in to my left – by the time the riders came by it was 3 people thick and I could barely get pics past the frantically waving hands of the boys – they were very excited and enthusiastic!

The racers went by in no time – not really racing, of course until they get out of the city and I did get a couple of nice shots of the leadout line.

Afterwards we walked back up the McD’s, and I took out my wet stuff to dry on the big rocks at the edge of the parking lot. A Sky van pulled in and Colin told me to ask for a water-bottle or something, so I did – the driver was in a hurry to get some food, but said he’d be back in a few minutes. I went up to use their loo again – the place was absolutely packed, but the Sky driver came back with a huge bag of burgers and fries, and gave me an authentic Sky water bottle!

My camping stuff was about dry, so we hit the road again just after 2 for Embrun, which is at the north end of a large lake (Lac de Serre Poncon) that reminded me of Okanagan lake, then followed tomorrow’s Tour course to pick our next watching spot.

We ended up just past the crest of the first hill – there’s a nice wide spot right on the side of the road where I can see the lake below from my tent. There’s quite a few other campervans and folks are walking up and down the road and stopping to say hi.

A couple of French men came by and started talking to us. They thought it was quite funny that I was over here for six months (with another man!!) while my husband was home with the cats. When I pointed out that I live in the tent and Colin in the van with the dogs they just laughed and walked away.

Another gorgeous day – windy as usual but clear bright sky – perfect for watching the race. I took the little ones for a walk after breakfast and can’t believe how many more vehicles and tents there were – hundreds and hundreds of people in our field and lined up and down both sides of the road. Some vans and cars are so close to the edge I’m surprised they’re not rolling down the mountainside.

Still hundreds of cyclists going up and down, and people walking up the mountain for a better view. We’re in a perfect spot – no one can get in front of us and we’re a little above the road, although I’m sure we’ll move about a bit once the racers reach us. It’s a very festive atmosphere already and the cavalcade hasn’t even started yet.

Clouds rolled in and rain began – light at first, then quite hard. Vans were going up and down selling Tour de France umbrellas, hats, shirts, bottles, etc. Rain stopped after a short bit, although the clouds were still threatening. Ate lunch at our table and chairs at the roadside – Frenchman on our right gave us some home-made salami that was very tasty.

Sometime after 3 the cavalcade began – and was it ever fun! All sorts of cars with huge mascots and people throwing freebies out at the crowd – I went wild!

Between Colin and myself we ended up with quite a haul – I was diving for stuff, while cradling my camera in my right arm like a rugby player protecting the ball. I’m not even sure what we got, but it was free and it was fun.

Within about a half hour we started seeing the helicopters coming, and saw on tv that the riders were starting the climb. As soon as they rounded the corner below us we could hear the crowds cheering.

The riders were really spread out from the previous climb, so took a long time to pass. We were on a bit of an almost flat spot between the climb below and the zig-zag climb above – many riders looked over their right shoulders to the upcoming hairpins they had to face – not happy thoughts for most of them.

As they progressed up the hill we could hear the crowds that lined the road going crazy – sound travels well down the mountain so we could always hear the very enthusiastic fans. There were at least 8 helicopters overhead at one time.

The moment the last rider passed and the following vehicles got by, with the big yellow BIC schoolbus being the last, the fans started dispersing – vehicles, bikes, pedestrians. At first the gendarme at the end of the parking lot below us was controlling the up/down/out traffic, but then she left and everyone that was moving was left to fend for themselves. At one point two motorcycle cops led a couple hundred cyclists down in a group.

The rude folks across the road continued their trend – the most vocal bitch vented at a couple of Dutch vans that were leaving – she called them disgusting pigs for leaving waste, although they vowed that it wasn’t theirs. One Frenchie tried to open the back door of the van, and the loudmouthed one kicked the van at least three times – what a sorry bunch – can’t wait until they leave. They were still going on about it well after the Dutch guys had left.

Watched as about 95% of the other campers left – the folks on our right kept their chairs right out near the road and watched same as they did all day – fairly entertaining, actually. Had a look at the pics I’d taken – some not bad ones of Contador, Froome and Quintana, as well as other riders that Colin will have to identify for me.

Tried to get an early night but a few of the remaining campers were having a chat-fest not far away. One of them kept saying ‘hush’ but that only made one of the others louder. Then the rain started to pound and the wind picked up again. I’m cozy enough inside the tent but everything’s going to be soaked when I pack up in the morning.

Woke up early thinking the day was going to be overcast, but when I peeked out the sky was clear blue but the sun hadn’t cleared the mountain peak yet. Didn’t sleep too bad considering there was a large lump right under my back on the right side – it’s not a rock or I would have noticed before I setup my tent. It was fairly chilly but my sleeping bag and black blankie kept me toasty cozy.

Colin and I took the doggies for a walk up the hill where all the hikers head – and there’s lots of them, groups of 20 or more, as well as people on their own.

I had my merino wool sweater on and my warm hoodie, but other folks were in shorts and t-shirts – the wind was fierce and those guys must have been freezing. Colin turned back after a bit and I took the little ones further on my own. I walked higher up than I had thought, just following the creek – when I looked back the way I’d come I was way further up than I would have guessed.

Took a slightly different route down and went ‘cross country’ for the last bit back to the campervan.

Had a lovely lunch of tuna salad, then watched the sheep for awhile. They were grazing on the hill on our side of the road – the sheep dog didn’t like it when they got too close to the road, and can he ever get them moving when the sheepherder wants him to.

Went for another walk, this time by myself. I crossed the road and walked down to the creek, trying to find a way across to the trail on the other side that I could see. Couldn’t find a way across, at least not without getting soaked, so stayed on my side, following the creek until the banks closed in. I made my way forward following the sheep trails onwards and upwards until I was close enough to the road to goat-climb up to it. Walked a little further on the road to the next corner – another valley opened up and the road still headed down.

Back near camp I saw a van trying in vain to get thru the parking lot to the field on our side of the road – I told him if he could get one of the cars on the other side to move there was plenty of room in that field to setup. He parked his van half on the road and went to find the owner of the car that was blocking the entrance to the field. He did find someone, although it wasn’t the car we thought should be moved – we were sure the campervan would bottom out and not be able to get onto the field, but he managed it. Several of our neighbours were also watching the manouvering and were also surprised and impressed with the success – I feel like we’re a bunch of little old ladies on our porches watching everything that happens in our little town and commenting and gossiping about it!

Another of our neighbours brought over a tiny little kitten that she has agreed to take care of – her son found it – I think on a job site where a bulldozer was just about to scoop up him and his siblings. They stopped work and rescued 3 or 4 very young baby kitties and she agreed to take one. She’s feeding it with a tiny bottle and it’s so young it’s eyes are just starting to open. It’s an all black male and he snuggled close and started licking and ‘kneeding’ my hand – he was so cute!

The group of folks across the road from us are still using one of their cars to block the way down for anyone else, although a couple of smaller cars have squeaked thru. One of our neighbours went over to help one vehicle – the owner of the ‘blocker’ car is pretending he doesn’t know it’s a problem – they even came and closed their hatch and scampered back to their tent rather stealthily (although I saw them).

Used my solar panel to re-charge my ipad so I don’t deplete the campervan’s battery so much – I bought it – I’ve lugged it around (and used it a bit) – I want to get all I can out of it. Started at 46% at around 3 and got up to 100% in less than 3 hours – not too bad.

Our closest neighbour came over with a bottle and insisted I have a swig – I got a glass instead and he poured a little into it and watched while I tasted it. It was awful – tasted like pure alcohol, perhaps aquavite or something. I saved the rest for Colin.

Some of the French folks not far from us were playing music – Colin walked the dogs over to see what’s going on. He said they’re very nice, but he didn’t want to stay longer. I, of course, wanted to join the party so went over and introduced myself. One of the older fellows took me under his wing and made sure I met many of the others, including one guy that spoke fairly good english. Whenever I was standing alone one or more of them would come and talk with me. They didn’t all remember my name, so would call out ‘Canada’ to get my attention. One guy was stirring a huge batch of paella – rice, sausage, chicken and huge shrimps. I sat down at the table with them – they told me I was welcome to join them – and they kept filling my cup with rose wine. It was such a good meal, and great company – I’m so glad I wandered over and invited myself!

Bright daylight an hour before the sun cleared the mountain to the northeast. Sunrise just after 7 – mist rising on the lake, tent and everything around soaking wet. Packed up what I could – stretched out the rest to dry. As soon as the sun shone over the mountain it heated up and things started to dry.

The only thing still wet when I did the final pack was the tent fly – put it in the large waterproof bag and loaded everything into the campervan. Sent a quick email to siblings so they wouldn’t worry if they don’t hear from me for a few days – doubt if I’ll have internet until Thursday or so.

They have signs up on all of the roads that are going to be closed for the Tour.

Drove east then north thru beautiful Alps – lots of pretty villages in beautiful narrow valleys. Stopped in Bourg d’Oisans for groceries – shocked by the total bill – the most I’ve spent since I left home, I think. I’ve become used to cheap food and wine, although they do have apple cider which I haven’t found before now. Saw a car in the parking lot with a Cdn flag in the back window – first other maple leaf flag I’ve seen over here. Then not far out of town we saw a cyclist with a Cdn jersey on – two from home in one day!

Passed many cyclists on the way – part of the route is going to be Wednesday’s Tour stage, although cycling in general seems to be very big here. There were signs everywhere advising what roads would be closed on Wednesday. Turned left (north) to the Col du Galibier – kept looking for a place to pull over but couldn’t find one – all the best places seemed to have been taken. Then we saw a field with several campervans and a lot of cars – even a cafe/restaurant. The parking lot was crowded with cars – we think they were hikers rather than Tour fans.

Colin managed to wind the van through the parked throng onto the field, which wasn’t easy – I thought we were going to side-swipe somebody a couple of times, but Colin knows his van well and is an excellent driver. We tied a rope from the canopy over to a pole next to the road so no one could come beside us on the right and impede our view of the road that the race will be on.

Had lunch right away as we were both very hungry, then setup my tent. Went to the cafe for tea (for me) and coffee (for Colin) – most expensive yet, even for France. Back at the van to read for awhile and watch other campers try to negotiate the rocky, hilly parking lot to get in and settled – who needs tv when you have slightly incompetent drivers to watch?

Colin put up the flags he had brought – two long poles with three flags each on them – very impressive – I’ll have to figure out how to get my little maple leafs visible.

A bunch of cars pulled in across the road and setup several tents. They have set some logs upright and are burning a couple – don’t know what for.

Colin looked up the mountain to the north and said ‘do you see the sheep’? Sure enough there were hundreds on the very steep hill, with one man and 3 or 4 dogs.

A fellow from the next campervan over came and said hi – he saw the flags and asked (in French) where we were from. One of the folks with him was American and came of to chat and interpret a bit. They’ve been here since yesterday – I’m glad we didn’t wait any longer to get here, it’s obvious that many people are still to come. We’re in a really good spot – part way up a horrible mountain climb, and right near the road, although we likely won’t stay at our campsite very long once the riders start coming thru.

Looked up the mountain (not the one in the picture above) again to see what the sheep were up to and they weren’t there – they were on the move down and at a fairly speedy pace. They slowed down a bit and headed over the hill away from us with the one guy and the dogs urging them on.

More vans going up and down the hill – the grassy field we’re in is filling up slowly. The fire-logs across the road are for cooking food. The folks have three fairly large tents put together to make one large eating area with tables and chairs. I went over to say hi – they’re all French, although one lady did speak a tiny bit of English. They seemed pretty impressed that I’m on a six month trip to see the Grand Tours. They were cooking sausages on top of one log and baking potatoes in foil in a split partway down the log. Other logs had various other kinds of meat, and people were feasting inside the tents. She told me they would have music and dancing later, but I didn’t stay. I did hear some music and voices, but they weren’t loud and shut it down early.

It’s so quiet – all you can hear is the creek and the wind – not sure if it ever stops blowing.
nit

Watched another brilliant sunrise as I did yoga – mist rising off the lake, only birds and water sounds to listen to – how lovely!

There was a mini-market at the campground this morning – four or five tables with jewelry, olives and cheeses, jams, etc – don’t even have to go into the village.

Didn’t get riding until almost noon, despite the early start to the day. Went along the river on the path near the campground thinking it would follow the river and end up at the highway a few miles down, but all it did was go around the small lake and ended up where I started.

Rode across the bridge and up and down the other side of the river – saw some sheep (mostly sleeping or eating) and went up to the village on the hill again.

Got back to the campground and watched a bit of the Tour, then went down to the lake – might as well take advantage of what we’re paying for (or at least that Colin’s paying for!). It was really nice – most of the time. Lots of people swimming, paddle-boarding, kite-flying – all sorts of activities happening. Only a few very irritating kids that had to scream all the time, but most were really good.

Had a really nice swim and a little sunbathing, then watched the end of today’s Tour stage. Froome still in the lead, but he had to work very hard for it.

Face-timed Dom – let him know I might be out of touch for a few days after tonight, depending on where we end up tomorrow and if we have wi-fi or not.

Colin had bought some sheep’s cheese at the ‘camp market’ this morning – was it ever good. I wonder if it came from some of the sheep I saw on my ride.

Had a good sleep, and got on the bike a little earlier – 10:00. Rode into the village and checked out the Exhibition – basically an indoor market of local jewelry, jams, artwork, homemade knives, etc – some really nice things. I then found the supermarket – got some fresh veggies and was a little surprised at the cost, and not in a good way. I’ve become used to super cheap food, and it seemed a little expensive – I guess that’s the price you pay to be here.

Took a ride around, heading east from the village – saw another village across the valley and think it might be the one I rode to yesterday. Continued on until just past the bridge, then rode up a couple of side roads until it became too steep. Headed back to camp on the creek path I was on yesterday.

Tried to load some pic’s but got frustrated at the slowness of the connection – sometimes it’s really fast, sometimes not so much.

Watched most of the day’s Tour on tv – found an English channel! – Froome regained yellow, and Aru looked very tired. Looking forward to seeing it in person next week.

Had fried bacon and eggs for dinner – quite a nice sunset, then to bed early. I’m alternating reading two books – one about the history of the Tour (by Graeme Fife) and the other a Jack Reacher novel.

Got up to see mist on the lake – very cool night and everything covered with condensation. Had a nice shower, then did yoga as the sun rose over the Alp in the northeast. The campground was so quiet – all I could hear was the birds and the river/creek.

After a late breakfast took a ride to see the rest of the campground, etc. The campground is large with a creek flowing through the middle. There are lots of activity areas – a bunch of teenagers were playing freezbie in a large field – there seemed to be at least a couple of large groups together.

I saw what looked like a path up to a road, so headed for it – sure enough it was a path – maybe cars went on it, but looked more like a walking/cycle path to me. I followed it for a short bit, then when there was a cross-path that went left back towards the village of Valbonnaiss I took it.

Rode to the village, then west to the end and back east again – there might have been a market somewhere, but all I saw that was open was a couple of hotel bars and cafes.

I did check out a map at a square that showed lots of local paths and trails so I followed a couple without getting too far into the mountains or away from the campground.

The Tour didn’t start until mid-afternoon – short but hard day of climbing. Quintana and Contador both picked up time on Froome, but probably not enough.

Had mashed potatoes and lamb chops for dinner – not bad eating for campers! I must say there have been very few times I haven’t loved the food everywhere I’ve been.