Le Tour de France

What an exciting weekend. We left Friday around 2 p.m. and arrived in London about 4:30. They were already starting to block off the streets for the opening ceremony in Trafalgar Square. There are always a lot of people in the square but this was amazing. People every where you looked. Everyone seemed to be in a very festive mood! I'm sure it is no surprise to anyone that the French and English people do not like each other but

everyone there was to support the riders regardless of the country they came from. We saw the teams introduced and a little history on the bicycle also. They also had some "funky dancing" for the youngsters that I could have done without.....but what do you do? We left to get something to eat but the celebration continued with band groups I did not recognize but the crowd seemed to really like them. Saturday we went to find a good spot to watch the first event. It's a 5k ride with each rider trying to get the best time. They also had a parade of the different sponsors giving away little goodies. Saturday night we went to see Spamalot. I've never seen any of the Monty Python movies but Alan and I both enjoyed the play.

Sunday we got up and went for the actual start of the race. We positioned ourselves down from Big Ben and managed to be in the front row of the crowd. It was so much fun watching the people as well as the riders. Everyone was enjoying them self. The weather was great which was a big help. The summer here is getting a very late start. After the riders swooshed by we headed for the car and our attempt to leave London. That was an adventure it's self with all the street closures. But we (Alan) managed just fine and we arrived home safe and sound.