Le Tour!

The very mysterious thing that Tom and Dave saw on TV when we were staying in Nantes was that the Tour de France had started that day, and that, wonder of wonders, they were actually not very far from where we were staying!

Since they're both amateur cyclists themselves, they were very keen to see it. So, we got googling, worked out where the stage the following day would be, discovered that it was only the teeniest of tiny detours away from our anticipated driving route the following day anyway, and the deal was done.

Sorry Loire, but the Tour takes precedence for our boys.

And that is how we found ourselves in Les Essarts for the second stage of the 2011 Tour de France.

The boys decided to do a bit of preparatory leg warming up in the carpark before we made our way in on foot. Actually I think they were pretending to be cyclists. On their backs.

Don't worry, I don't get it either.

Their exuberance continued, and they had a little race to this 'finish line'.

As usual, I got distracted by doors.

And a horse in a beautiful paddock nearby.

Tom got excited looking at some of the team bikes.

And then we began the search for the perfect place to position ourselves to watch.

Tom admired the interesting hats on display along the way...

I admired pretty gardens...

Tom pretended he was a cyclist some more...

I admired a very cute old car by the side of the road, complete with bike on top.

And I puzzled over a random ladder standing on its own in a field...

We bumped into a fellow Australian who was following the tour on his own bike. Very brave!

And then the show started.

Sitting by the side of the road watching cyclists come by at ten minute intervals is not really my thing. So I found other ways to amuse myself. I'm clearly impressed at being caught in the act.

The show continued, with or without me watching.

Tom loved it.

The cyclists kept slogging...

While the boys did their weird cycling-while-lying-down act again.

And ran alongside them yelling. All very normal tour behaviour, really.

We decided to change positions after a little while, and find a spot closer to the finish line.

Dave turned down a bear hug along the way...

We saw more cyclists...

And some fancy-dressed fans who must have been VERY hot in the sweltering weather!

More cyclists...

Giant blow-up power drills... of course...

Very interesting bar stools... I told you I got distracted easily by buildings and furniture, right?

And the town church.

Tom found a BMC team vehicle and got very excited...

We admired some very impressive signage...

And the boys double checked their facts about the route on some guy's back.

Oops, I got distracted again (Brittney Spears' lesser known hit)...

Can I just say... how cool are these gates?

Not to mention the fact that roses grow like weeds in France, through tiny cracks in the footpath?

Or in a roof?

OK, back to business. We got ourselves closer to the finish line, and the boys cheered the cyclists on as they crossed it.

Cassie and I found crepes.

This is Cadel Evans, Australia's little golden boy of the tour.

And that brought us to our own finish line. Time to move on!

Not before I took a few parting shots of a castle by the side of the road back to the carpark though!