Viva la Tour!

Joel and I just finalized our bookings for our trip to France (and the Tour de France) next month. I can't wait!! We're going to spend 4 days in Paris, then take a high-speed train down to Tarbes, right at the foot of the Pyrenees. Once in Tarbes, we'll rent a car and drive 20 km southwest to Lourdes, where we'll stay for 3 nights. The day after we arrive, the Tour will go through Lourdes and go up the toughest climb of the entire race: the Col d'Tourmalet. We plan on driving to Tourmalet early that day or late the night before to get a good spot. We'll be able to see all of the cyclists going very slowly up the 9% grade. Joel is very happy about this. I think it just might be his dream come true. There is no better way to see Jan Ullrich et al, unless you're riding with them. :)

Here's what we'll see before the riders arrive:

How about that?!

After a day of watching the Tour, we'll drive back to Lourdes, where we'll spend the next day and a half seeing the sights, including a castle that Charlamagne seized in the late 700's (not the 1700's, silly American - the 700's!) and the location where the Virgin Mary showed herself to a young girl on 14 separate occasions. Then we'll take the train back to Paris, where we'll stay 2 more nights before heading back to the States.

Can't wait can't wait can't wait can't wait can't wait.

We've got our passports (mine is new - Joel had one but needed to renew it) and have booked our airfare, hotels, train, and car rental. I did most of this online but could not figure out how to book in the Pyrenees. So I went to a travel agency near my work for help with that leg of the tour. The woman I talked with just happened to be from France and gave me the low-down (if you're in DC and need a good agent, call Laetitia at Liberty Travel - she's fabulous!). I thought travel agents were outdated, considering travel websites like Expedia or Travelocity and the fact that most chambers of commerce and towns have their own websites, but when I couldn't figure out how to navigate to/from the Pyrenees, Laetitia proved invaluable.

This trip will be the perfect vacation for us. I get 6 nights in Paris, and Joel gets to see the Tour live and up close. Can't wait can't wait can't wait.

Cheers!