Wasn’t there a song with that title??
For the past week and for the foreseeable forecast the temperatures are in the high 30’s, understandable in Oz, but here???

Thanks Chris for insisting on a house with a pool😊

July is the start of French holiday time with of course the 14th being Bastille Day – a wonderful excuse for a get together, so our invitation duly arrived for the gathering at the Salle de Fêtes. Despite the heat there were two long tables of locals and a number of  other English speaking nationalities, enjoying the free food and drink. 😊

“Our table” where we caught up with familiar faces and met some new. The meal provided by the Commune Committee consisted of a number of courses over a number of hours, with the final crunch coming around 5pm when local builder Bernard offered around a lethal brew  48% proof!!

The next bit of news this month is that at long last Tonto the motorhome has been sorted. After some ongoing electrical issues it appears that all is now well, thanks to Laura (my French teacher) her mechanic husband and an Angoulême garage. Back on the road again we decided to head South to catch up on a stage of the Tour De France 🇫🇷 We only chose a 40 degree weekend!! How those guys cycle day in day out is anyone’s guess, I want whatever they’re on.

Saturday afternoon, setting up camp on a deserted stretch of road some 25kms south of Rodez. Chris organising the decorating 😊

Breakfast on Sunday morning

It wasn’t long after this that the locals began to appear a few in cars but most walking loaded down with chairs, kids and lunch. Always polite, the occupants of the cars asked if they could park alongside us being careful not to obscure the views up and down the road.

As always the sponsor “Caravane” is the intro to the day’s stage, with loud music and colourful floats they stream down the road chucking out goodies from flags to washing powder! Great excitement amongst the little kids (and the not so little) as everyone scrambles to catch a spotted cap or a packet of biscuits😊

Unfortunately no free Skodas.

Once the cavalcade is through then it’s down to the serious business of lunch. Our delightful neighbours offered us samples of their home cooking but we drew the line at a midday Pastis! It was a great opportunity to try out some conversational French and they were very patient with gentle corrections as we stumbled through some sentences.

Our lovely Tour neighbours

Lunch over the excitement builds with the first indication of action down the road being the helicopters above.

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And then around the corner cars, bikes and close behind the break away group of 3 riders

Led at this stage by the Green  Jersey of  Wout van Aert

Now I’m hoping this longish bit of video works ok as it does give some idea of the atmosphere and madness that is the Tour de France!!

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And so after a 5 hour drive each way that was this year’s TDF experience but we wouldn’t miss it for the world.

A final farewell to our “new best friends” (who were very grateful for the loan of Chris’ brolly) and back into Tonto for the long drive home.

And finally Les Quatres  Maillots, my impressions of Le Tour 🚴‍♂️