Tour de France: Limoux to Aulus-les-Bains

Watching the Tour de France on TV every year increased our desire to live and travel in France – the scenery not the bike riding – those guys have to be crazy (Jeff and Fleur) to put themselves through such torture. We watched the Tour when we were in France in 2010 but the cyclists went past so quickly we were determined that next time we would watch the race on a hill climb.

After John had meticulously examined every mountain stage in fine detail, we decided on Stage 13, which started in St Girons and ended in Foix which is a town we had visited previously with Shirley and Greg. We would stay a small town mid-way on the route.

On the day prior to the race we travelled to Foix and then followed the track course in reverse to find the best spot to view the cyclists – we thought the best place would be on a long steep slope where the cyclists would be exhausted thus travelling slowly. We are blaming the GPS and the low cloud cover for the circuitous route we took; my map reading is faultless. As we always say “we are not lost – we are merely in a different location.” John sometimes says other things but I won’t repeat them.

Apart from the extra hours spent looking at alternative countryside it was a beautiful drive. On the top of hills we drove through clouds and we only had a few metres vision. Towns that were on the Tour route were decorated by local school children and often include painted, decorated bikes mounted beside the road. On the Cols (mountain passes), there were motor homes as far as you could see parked

along the road and groups of campers around lakes or on hillsides ready for the action the following day. One Col had a bar and brass band set up for the people who would be there for the next 24 hours.

We really felt like part of the race. Just before Alus-les-Bains we found a good vantage point so we continued on to our hotel. Aulus-les-Bains is a spa town and in winter a ski town near to many ski fields. The Grand Hotel was really grand – in size – otherwise, the lift was broken (we were on the 4th floor) and we were told to book in our departure time – we haven’t come across this concept before (or after). Apparently booking out is a difficult process and reception needs a half hour slot to process it.

We were just about to go to bed when we woke to a really loud bang – we were then treated with a fireworks display in the field right outside out bedroom window for Bastille Day (or my sister Maree’s birthday).

Next: Tour de France Trip – Le Tour