18 July – A beautiful clear hot day. We drove inland from Pamplona gently rising up a series of valleys. This is beautiful farming country (mainly wheat). The Pyrenees were looming getting closer and we could see snow on the higher peaks. We found a camp well up in the mountains. Fortunately it had a great swimming pool as it was a very hot day. We are positioned to cross back into France for the Tour de France.

19 July – Another great day. We drove up a great valley higher into the Pyrenees past stunning alpine villages and ski resorts. We crossed into France at the Col du Pourtalet and down the other side to the road up the Col d’Aubisque. As soon as we were on the road there were campervans parked at every available point to see the Tour de France. We drove to the top of the Col (1709m) where there were a large number of campervans parked in the hotel carpark and adjacent paddock. What a sight. We managed to find a park. Almost the last. This is 28 hours before the tour goes thru!!
There are beautiful views in every direction. There are cows with loud bells, donkeys and horses just wandering around.
We sat for about 3 hours just watching the activities. People were parking where they could on the side of the road, some in campervans and many pitching tents. The Tour comes back thru here in the reverse direction in two days time so many will stay.
There were many amateurs cycling over the Col in both directions. Some were just individuals, but there were also some large organized groups. Everyone co-operates very well. Nobody is organizing it, but people have parked in the minimum of space and left room to exit.
The temperature has dropped and it will be a cool night.

20 July – Lazy start to the day as the “Tour” is not due thru until 3:45pm. We went for a walk up a hill to try and get cell phone coverage. Walked back and realized that many groups were already staking their positions to watch. We sorted out a good spot and Val sat guard while I went back to “Lefty” for chairs, sun umbrella, books and water. We were in position at 10:45am for the “Tour” 5 hours later!!
We just sat and took in the atmosphere. People everywhere, writing on the road, cycling up and down the road, barbequing, and generally having a ball. We did not read our books at all. They were handing out free chalk so Val wrote: “Go Kiwi”, “NZ” and “Kaiapoi NZ” on the road. At one stage we saw two All Black flags riding up the road to the Col. They heard our call and returned later for a chat. A couple from Tauranga. Around 2:30 a large procession of the sponsor’s vehicles went up the road. (le caravanne). It was like a Christmas parade of floats. They were throwing stuff to the crowd – tee shirts, caps, sweets, water, etc. We both ended up with hats and some washing powder!
About and hour later we heard the helicopters and saw the first sign of the cyclists preceded by two motorcycle cops. There was a breakaway group of 5 including Lance Armstrong. We were at a steep part of the road about 150m from the summit. They went passed in a flash!
A chase group came thru about 8 minutes later and the main peloton passed, at a more leisurely pace, 10 minutes after that. It was all over! 10 minutes later the road was open again.
We went back to “Lefty” and had a cup of coffee as the mist arrived before joining the slow parade of campervans descending into the valley. Eventually we drove thru to Lourdes and finding the “Aires” full, ended up in a camping ground.

21 July – We woke to steady drizzle and decide not to pay the 20 odd euros to visit St Bernadette’s Grotto as neither of us needed a cure for anything at this stage. The 230kms drive to St Emilion, about 30kms from Bordeaux right in the heart of the vineyards was thru farm country, mainly corn fields. We had pre-booked this camp months ago as we thought all camps in this area would be full with the “Tour” and the French school holidays. Wrong! The camp is half empty and very expensive. Oh well, you can’t win them all!!
We shopped on our way and exchanged our gas bottle. This has lasted since we left France over 7 weeks ago. Not bad considering we have been away from camps and off power for almost half this time.

22 July – A late start to the day which was cool and cloudy. After some domestic duties we cycled thru the vineyards to St Emilion. This is a beautiful medieval town based on the wine trade from the area. There is a large church in the town which has only it’s spire above ground. The body of the church is underground. (do not know why!) We took a tour on a mini train around some of the Chateaux (vineyards)
Eventually we succumbed to temptation and had a glass of wine (turned into two) and a cheese board watching the end of an exciting stage of the “tour” on TV.
When we returned to our camp, fortified by the wine, we complained about the cost of our stay and we were immediately handed 20 euros.

23 July – Off to Bordeaux. We parked in a school bus park, the locals said it would be OK, and caught the tram into town. Spent a couple of hours walking around the town and found most of the major attractions. Most of the buildings were badly discoloured stone but there were some beautiful churches and public buildings. We had a nice lunch at a café and found the finish line etc for the stage of the “Tour”. We walked to the 350m point and as the barriers were not full sat for a while. As the barriers filled we staked our spot at about 2.45. (Cyclists due at 5.15). The atmosphere and the entertainment were great so the time passed quickly. The whole peloton were basically together as they passed us. The sprinters were on our side of the road and flashed passed so quickly that you could not even identify anyone. They were within a foot of us. We later found out that Julian Dean (the only Kiwi) was leading the charge. The whole thing was over in 15 minutes and we caught the tram back to “Lefty” (which had not been towed or clamped!!)

24 July – We had planned to go back into Bordeaux for the individual time trial but as it was going to take 6 hours just to pass one point we reconsidered and stayed at our camp at St Emilion. We hopped on the bikes and cycled thru the vineyards, chateaux, and villages in this area for about 25kms. Stunningly beautiful!!!
Back to the camp for a leisurely afternoon around the pool.