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| Cadel Evans with my girls in Bordeaux in 2010 |
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| The 2018 Tour passed along the road through Menthon-Saint-Bernard |
Here I go again. Talking about food when I have no right to do so. But, in honour of the Tour de France - a race that I have come to know and love over the last ten years - we made a French meal. Actually, we never need an excuse for this, and I use the term 'we' loosely. I watched, took photos and sampled the red wine as the beef stew (boeuf bourguignon) was being put together.
But, back to the bikes. In 2009, we were in the final months of preparation before our family adventure (which would take us from living in Melbourne to living in France) when the Tour passed through Annecy. I stayed up that night to watch the SBS coverage on Australian television and, as my interest to that point in the Tour was scanty and my knowledge sketchy, I didn't understand a lot of what was going on: the idea of teams working together for one lead rider, the different specialists within the teams, the terms and duration of the Tour, the names of the riders etc. was all unfamiliar territory. I can't tell you who won that stage, where the race went after Annecy and had to look up the eventual overall winner (Contador), but I can tell you that that night was thrilling. It was a turning point of sorts, as it had been suggested to all of our friends that they, too, should stay up late to see our future hometown. After years of planning, there was no alternative but to finally walk our talk...and go.
I now feel like an old hand. Not only did Annecy again feature this year as a start town for the 10th stage, Taste Le Tour with Gabriel Gaté visited Le Père Bise in our village, Talloires. Go to Series 14, Episode 10 for more.
***Purchase your copy of 'But you are in France, Madame', which takes you with us on our French adventure, at Amazon, here ***
