In which we watch the Tour de France

I've always wanted to see a major international sporting event. The problem is that those sorts of things tend to be expensive and hard to get tickets to. Also, they tend to be located in places that I'm not living, which exacerbates those problems. So when I realized that we were going to be living in Paris when the Tour de France finished, I was determined that I was going to see it.

The great thing about the Tour de France is that watching it is free. You just have to find a piece of roadside to sit or stand on, and wait for the bikes to go past. The not so great thing is that (of course) they go past really fast, and then they're gone. Originally we had planned to watch the Tour go through the Paris suburbs, not all that far from our apartment. Then Blaise and I got to talking, and doing a little research, and decided to go down to the end of the route. You see, at the end of the last day, the route loops 8 times around the Tuileries and along the Champs Elysees. If we could get spots there, we'd be able to see the cyclists for 8 times as long.

We set off for the train station around 11:30 Sunday morning, armed with lunch, snacks, books, and a few other things. The RER ride wasn't terribly crowded. Once we transferred to the Metro, things got a bit crazier though. Everyone poured off the train together at Place de la Concorde, and moved en masse through the station. The city of Paris had closed all but one of the exits to the station, and so we were herded like cattle in the direction they wanted us to move. Once above ground, we fairly quickly found a space along the barrier that was big enough for the 3 kids (we weren't sure we'd ever find one big enough for all of us, and Blaise and I could, of course, see over their heads) and settled down to wait. The crowd didn't seem to bad. The barrier was filled as far as I could see in both directions, and the wall behind us was also lined with people, but the middle of the sidewalk was largely open.

12:30--Arrived at Tour de France
12:35 -- Watched car drive by
12:38 -- Watched guy on bike ride by
12:40 -- Watched policemen switch positions
12:45 -- Watched policemen switch positions again (You get the idea.)
1:00 -- Ate lunch.
1:30 or so -- Watched a group of 8-12 year olds race by on bikes.
2:00 -- Watched a group of teenagers race by on bikes
2:45 -- Watched a "parade" of ads for the sponsoring companies. This took about 45 minutes all together.
4:38(or so) -- 30 second blur of brightly colored cyclists
4:46 -- 30 second blur of brightly colored cyclists
4:54 -- 30 second blur of brightly colored cyclists
5:02 -- 30 second blur of brightly colored cyclists
5:10 -- 30 second blur of brightly colored cyclists
5;18 -- 30 second blur of brightly colored cyclists
5:26 -- 30 second blur of brightly colored cyclists
5:34 -- 30 second blur of brightly colored cyclists

By the time the cyclists actually came through, the sidewalk was so packed it was impossible to move, and people who had arrived late were attempting to push past those who had been waiting for hours. After the race we hung around in the Tuileries for about an hour before we headed home, hoping that some of the craziness on the Metro would have a chance to die down. We got home around 8:00, and dined on Muesli with chocolate chips and watermelon for dinner. I figure we spent 8.5 hours standing on our feet (no place to sit down) in order to watch about 4 or 5 minutes of the cyclists. Probably I wouldn't do it again, but I'm glad to have gone when I had the chance.