dag, that was cool

i really didn't expect to see to much of the last stage of the tour de france. unless you are a somebody there are no seats or bleachers so the rest of us nobodies are left to fend for ourselves along the champs elysees. i saw a few people with step ladders...a very good idea. i first showed up around 9am and there were a few people camped out with supplies for a long day...the race wouldn't be by for almost 10 hours. i was not willing to sit around for that long. i wandered up and down the champs a few times soaking things in and getting a feel for where i did want to try to see things from. so the last day is about 102 miles and it finishes up with 7 laps up in paris along the champs elysees with a u-turn at l'arc de triomphe down the quai de tuileries a left turn just before the louvre up rue de rivoli. the area around the place de concorde and finish line were pretty well taken with bleachers and tents so i figured the end towards l'arc would be best...smartly i chose the side that was in the shade. in the hours before i wandered around the city not wanting to get too far away and made my way back around 1ish. the pre-race caravan would be by around 2:45 and the race about 2 hours later. the pre-race caravan is about an hours worth of the sponsor's vehicles driving by slowly, blaring music and honking there horns.

as much as i wanted to see this i didn't even want to stay standing at or close to the baracades for hours on end. i perched myself on a ledge of a window of a store and chilled...for a long time. sitting there i had resigned myself to the fact that i really wasn't going to see much and then for some reason the sanitation workers who had been by a bunch of times moved a trash can closer to a tree. now when i say trash can what i mean is this large block of concrete on the ground from which a 2" diameter pipe rises vertically to about waist high on me and attached to this pipe are 2 metal hoops that hold trash bags. i got up and inspected the situation and felt that there was enough of a perch where the hoops met the pipe for me to get a good part of one foot on and i could lean on the tree for support. if it was possible i would be up there for 30-40 minutes. it worked!

i got up there as the first escort vehicles drove by and had a decent view...not great but not bad. they ride pretty close to the gutter (the champs elysees is cobblestone and the only smooth place is the gutter which is concrete...it's dangerous to ride there but that's how they do it) so when they were headed to l'arc i could see them but barely on they're way back. here's a 2 minute video...remeber, i'm perched precariously holding on to a tree so it's not going to make wide world of sports (even if that show were still around)

all in all a pretty good day. i saw more than i expected and leard alot for the next time i'm here and get to see the race.

oh yeah, the rest of paris is nice too...but i'll tell you about that later.