Thoughts on viewing le Tour and London to Dover to Calais to Lille:

Thoughts on viewing le Tour and London to Dover to Calais to Lille: 

If you want to follow all the action of Le Tour find a television. This allows you to keep abreast of all the action. You get a better overview of the Stage and see images of much of countryside. Like the Yellow dyed and polkadot sheep.

Being present to see the tour is much different, you have little knowledge of the positioning  and progress on the stage. You know your will be waiting hours to secure a good viewing location. You know the Peloton will come whizzing by for just a few seconds. You will be exposed to the elements be they sun or rain or wind, and you will not move as you will loose your hallowed spot. 

Be that as it may be, your experience an energy shared with the crowds that gather along the course. You make fast friends with those next to you. Quickly realizing they share you passion for Le Tour and have an understand of the race, the strategy and the abilities of the different teams and riders. So conversation is not a problem. 

So for me it is the energy of the crowd and your fellow like minded fans who wait with you through sun and rain to see a bit of a grand event. You have seen and experienced tradition and made history, viewing the largest sporting event in the world. 

We were up early and finished packing. We made our way to St Pancras via the Underground. Collected our tickets and and exchanged some Pounds for Euros as the  exchange was favorable. Arriving a bit early we were able to catch an earlier train to Dover. This will give us a good buffer on finding our way to the P&O Ferry Dock. 

For those of you concerned, yes I was able to get my last bacon buttie before leaving London. Yes brown sauce was added. 

We are on a high speed rail service to Dover and this is a very nice train. Comfortable and we were able to get a seat with a table so I can catch up on my ramblings. Just enjoying the bucolic countryside of England. 

Yesterday, 7 July there was a problem with the Eurostar in the Chunnel and the train had to be evacuated. This caused a great interruption in service and the queues were quite long for folks who had booked the Eurostar.     When we started to plan this trip we were planning on taking the EuroStar to Paris vis the Chunnel. We had to change our plan as there were no rental cars available in Paris, and this was a year out in the planning. This plan seems to be most fortuitous for us. 

We arrived at Dover Priory at about 0820 and got the shuttle bus to the Ferry Port. As we arrived we were able to change our booking to an earlier ferry which may help us get to our hotel early and then out to see le Tour. So we will sit and have a cup of coffee. Soon it was time to board a shuttle to the Ferry. 

I must say people in England are rather bright, unlike in the states we have to have a warning on the coffee cups telling us the coffee is hot. 

We boarded the ferry, Pride of Burgundy, and made our way to the Club level. Complementary snacks and drinks were had. The Club Level is nice, worth it for sure if the ferry were to be crowded. Change that the ferry si crowded and very glad to have paid for the Club Level. 

After arriving in Calais, we learned the local shuttle was not operating as purported and the walking bridge to Calais downtown was out of service. So we found a nice cab driver  that got us directly to Avis for just a couple more Euro than the bus. 

Got the rental car and headed to Lille. Stopped in a grocery store to get supplies for tomorrow, as we will try and get to a section of the famed Paris-Roubaix cobbles. 

Tucked in and attempting to download new info for the GPS. 

There are bunnies here at the Ibis Hotel in Lille.