No Particular Place To Go

Having written about the Tour de France in the past I won’t bore anyone with the history this time, Let’s just say this year will see the 110th edition of the Tour start its Grand depart in Basque Country on the Spanish side of the border where the 176 rides spend the first two stages in Bilbao and San Sebastián before heading into France. 

We pick the Tour up on stage 4 just outside the small village of Bonas where the riders seem to be taking the start of the race easy only for chaos to unfold with not one, not two but three crashes taking place near the finish. 

Following the Tour De France is a fun thing to do but when you follow it in a the motorhome you need to plan carefully because it’s estimated that around 10,000 motorhomes will follow Le tour every year and with the route travelling mainly along ordinary roads and passing through small villages with narrow streets there will inevitably be large volumes of traffic so to avoid spending hours caught up in queues John sets about planning a route which over the next two weeks sees us dip in and out of watching different stages because logistically it would be rather tiresome trying to keep up with each stage.

John’s favourite stages are either in the Alps or the Pyrenees mountains and this year sees the tour go through both so apart from two stages this year we aim for the Alps to watch most of the stages. 

Whether we park roadside or in an aire in a village and walk, the atmosphere is always great fun and we meet people from all different parts of the world and if there’s any kind of language barrier it soon disappears. (Especially after a glass of wine).

Along the way this year, we meet up with Lorna and Pete, Sian and Phil, Alison and Tim and spend many an afternoon and evening catching up on news and chatting all aided by copious amounts of crisps, marshmallows and chocolate, tons of French wine and in my case bottles of water.

With the tour finally over we reflect on what at times has been a crazy, fast and furious time compared to the slow-paced motorhome life we are normally used to. We managed to see 10 of the 21 stages and aside from the beautiful countryside, the tour creates a carnival atmosphere and vibe like no other in these small villages and towns. Even if like me you aren’t a cycling fan watching the Tour de France unfold in front of your eyes is amazing, and it’s one of the biggest sports in the world that you can watch for free, I would recommend giving it a go at least once. 

Stage 4 of the Tour de France will see the race head east from Dax to Nogaro and as it passes us at Bonas it’s rather uneventful. 

Stage 7 in the village of Saint Gor we park up next to the locals and decorate the van with flags and lend our neighbours some chairs.

We decide to miss tomorrow’s stage and spend the night in the village of Eymet and have a walk before the storm starts. 

Stage 9 passes through the village of Bromine-Lamothe. The village is split by the main road so we decide to park up in the aire and walk to find a spot but there’s plenty of vintage vehicles roadside to cheer them on.

Walking around the village we find the funfair is in town so we soon realise we will be in for a noisy night, however the fireworks are good.

Johns refusing to be me a washer/dryer to tow on the back, this one belongs to the unfair.

We park up amongst the trees in Bramine-Lamothe for a couple of nights and watch the comings and goings of the other motorhomes.

If you’ve never been fortunate enough to see the Tour de France in person, likely, you’ve never heard of the “caravan” that makes up a big part of the day’s events, especially for children it’s fun. 

Each stage of the tour sees a huge convoy of cars and lorries all brightly decorated and branded by the sponsors of the tour, come rolling through villages and towns about an hour or so ahead of the cyclists all throwing out goodies. So its new tactics for us and the arrows worked well the people on the caravan loved having the habitation door to aim for.

Just some of the goodies we were lucky to catch this year.

Well, my Dad’s fishing rod hasn’t caught any fish however it doubles well as a flag pole.

Outside the town of Nébouzat, we park on a grass verge overnight ready for stage 10 of the Tour and have our tea roadside. 

The family that park opposite us in Nebouzat are on holiday from Slovakia and following a few stages of the Tour. We have a fun-filled day with them with lots of banter and laughter, though I’m not sure their children would agree. 

Not even the police want him but I did try!

At the small farming village of Sardon we watch stage 11 and we have a great view of the cyclists coming through the village and then heading off towards the countryside. 

I’m sure the Orangina caravan is out to get us this year, I get a bump on the head from a flying can then only a few days later John’s toe gets hit by one of their flying missiles and he needs assistance from Pete and Tim! The crowd here goes crazy as the caravan moves through with everyone trying to grab the goodies that soar through the air. It’s a lot of fun, especially for the children and it’s a traditional part of the tour who doesn’t love a freebie but we now step back when Oringina passes!

For a small village the people come from no where!

We park in a lay-by on the outskirts of Poule-les-Écharmeaux for stage 12 where the riders tackle their first category 3 climbs for this stage, however it seems like we have parked on the M25 with the large lorries hurtling past us.

The Doctor in the house opposite where we park up for the night was right about the road coming to life at 5.30 a.m. In the morning the Doctor appears with her remedy for our sleepless night, a bottle of water, ice, radishes and a rather large bottle of Panash.

Stage 12 and the Tour passes in a flash, and once again it’s time to pack up and move on.

Stage 13 and we aren’t roadside but its so hot we actually don’t mind, we just decorate with a few of Alison’s flags more for shade than anything else.

The small village of Bouligneux with just 35 inhabitants seems to double in size when stage 13 of the tour comes past. We hadn’t been in the car park long when the Maire came along to invite us to a gathering tomorrow, however, we had plans to move on so we didn’t attend. 

Not a great photo be we pass an amazing monument next to the cemetery in Cerdon that commemorates 700 resistance fighters who died in the resistance during World War II. 

On route to service the van we spot the DSM- Firmenich cycling team so I go in search of a flag, unfortunately they don’t have flags but Murray finds us a bottle, feed bag and hat which is great to hang on the van.

Stage 15 and we are up between Villaz and Filliere for the night, Lorna and Pete go out to the pop up Wetherspoons and are served by the Phil the Tour waiter.

It’s a rest day for the cyclists so we take the opportunity to head to Annecy and have a swim in the lake and enjoy the sun.

Today we climb the winding roads up to the pretty alpine village of Notre-Dame-de-Bellecombe to see stage 17 and find a great spot in a picnic area. Surrounded by Mountain views and the sound of the cows heading down to be milked there’s always something to watch whilst we wait for the Tour. 

Drone photo of Notre-Dame-de-Bellecombe

Stage 18 and it’s a hot day with very little shade

Stage 18 and a hill slows the riders down so we catch a glimpse of them on the outskirts of Ardert Village well at least 10 seconds because they still whoosh by!

This isn’t my photo however with the race over we watch clips of the last few days on TV. We don’t support any particular team or cyclist, however, the Bahrain Victorious rider Matej Mohoric might not have won the tour but his interview is a winner, praising everyone involved with the Tour he’s very humble and has many traits we could all learn from, this too is worth a watch.

Coordinates for Aires used in France

Eymet

N 44° 39′ 54

E 0° 23′ 45

Bromont-Lamothe

N 45° 50′ 23

E 2° 48′ 48

Saint-André-sur-Vieux-Jonc

N 46° 9′ 10

E 5° 9′ 7

Lathuile

N 45° 47′ 41

E 6° 12′ 27