AU REVOIR FRENCH RIVIERA

Yesterday, we left the beautiful French Riviera and headed west towards the Pyrenees Mountains (Tarn Region). We were able to get away early but found out quickly that it was the long weekend for the Bastille Day celebration. We found out later, that this is the worst weekend to drive in France. You would not believe the traffic on the superhighway. After about an hour into our travels we hit the gridlock. It was like driving in Los Angeles at rush hour, but it was for 75 km and did not look like it was getting any better. We reprogrammed the GPS unit to get us off the highway and take the back roads. Unfortunately, the back roads have slower speed limits, but at least we were moving. Also, the back roads were very windy and every 10-15 km you drove through a small French town. The positive thing about driving through the French country side was that we saw some great medieval castles and chateaus.

After a long day of driving, we arrived in Castres at about 5pm. Unfortunately, we could not meet with the home owner until after 6pm. We were about 20 minutes from Revel, which was a finish line for Stage 13 of the Tour de France. My family agreed (with some persuasion) to head over to the finish line. We arrived just in time, to see the finish and all the cyclists come through and head to the team buses. I was able to get close to Lance Armstrong as he left the team bus and hopped in the team car. It was another great day at the tour.