Top of a Climb Tour de France 2016

I have always wanted to experience the Tour de France, and a climb, where the riders are going slow, is the best way to see the action.  Otherwise, they just whiz by.  So, that means we needed to overnight on top of the mountain.  Well, we missed the 6 pm time-limit to get there. 

 They closed the road, so we parked further down the hill and slept.  The second one is our 'BMW Touring car CAMPER.'  The guy in front of us had an inflatable bed and a bike to ride up the hill the next morning.  We were cramped, and got to hike up the hill!

Beautiful views in the morning, and breakfast was 'pain au chocolat.'  NUM!

The fog rolled into the valley and out, and you could hear the cow bells.  This is limousin country... the cow, not the car...

 

The breakfast of champions!

This was our hike up the hill.  Tim and William will summit the top of that peak.

You follow these signs telling which 'path' you are following through the area.

The climb was long and steep.

The views were beautiful.

This is Puy Mary from the other angle that William took, since he alone took another hike while we waited.  This area is France's old volcanic area.

...the view from there down to the top of the Pas de Peyrol.  (Peyrol Pass)

You can see all the campers that made it up to the summit area to overnight and wait.  Luckily, there were toilets there to use at the little rest station!

This is the view from where we stood.  That is the top of the hill Tim and Will climbed.  People are standing on the restrooms.  We originally were 'at the line' but they still had to put up the poles and sign, so we moved a bit further down to stay out of the way.

Tim held down the fort quite a bit of the day.  We could sit on the side for quite a few hours.  He had beer!

When I turned to move stuff away from the side so that others could use it, this man BULLED himself into my spot!  What a JERK!  I argued with him, and so did the other French people beside us.  I used my 'tooting horn' to encourage riders, and I might have unintentionally put the horn side directed directly towards him...  After he finally left, I had a nice talk with the people next to us.  They were from Vendée, and since I'd just learned about it, we could speak.  Of course, it was in my broken French, but we agreed he was a salaud.  We'd both been there since before 9 a.m, and he came in about 4:45p.m.  They thought I was from England, since I spoke a bit of French!  :)

The other side is a drop-off.  Those people have only a few feet to stand.

WOO HOO!  We are in our 'points green jersey,' 'polka-dot mountain climber jersey,' and 'overall best time leader jersey!'  We represented with our unique American hats!!!

After the guy left...

And finally, late in the day, they arrive!

  These are the first riders up this hill,

What you saw at home (far left, you can see Wm polka-dot and Tim's yellow).

We cheered them all on!

The effort is something to applaud! 

Nairo Quinta's group up and over the hill.  I think Froome was in this pack. 

Alberto Contador on the left with Tinkoff.

Some of the Team Sky (best team) coming up.

This guy is waiting... 

He runs alongside them to deliver..

 ...water.

The TV cameras are on motorcycles.

Now you can see us on the left, after the guy in orange is me in green, Wm polka-dot, Tim yellow.

 

But the helicopters always have the best view.  You know the riders are in the area, when you start hearing the helicopters!

You are looking up at the Pas de Peyrol summit from within the riders.  It doesn't look bad from here, but they've been pulling this grade for a few kilometers by now!

 The skinny, lighter guys go over the top first.  The rest are trying to pedal their weight up the hill.  The look on their faces explain the pain.

This is my current favorite rider, Peter Sagan.  He is in yellow today, but loses it after these hills.  He goes on to get the green jersey.

You can tell by the look on his face how hard this is!

Even Cavendish made this hill (at this point, he was in green)!

 And before you know it, they are all past.

Then we began the slog down the hill with many others.

We are really in 'Le Parc Naturel Régional de Millevaches en Limousin.'

The National Park of Thousands of Limousine Cattle

Always love a good pic.

And round bales with an abbey on top of the hill!

 Other pictures William took from on top of the mountains you can hike.

This is Puy Mary again.

I will end from a view where you can see how little room there is for any biker to make an error on these passes.

Thank you, 2016 Tour de France for having 3 vastly different stages within 5 days so I could enjoy this incredible experience!!!

Chateau Chenonceau

You pay your money to park your car and to gain entrance, and then you walk down this lovely tree-lined lane.

We explored a garden to the left.

Photo op!

The garden had a labyrinth and several other grecian surprises. One of the lady owners put some caryatids in the park that once adorned the chateau. (Yes, it's a new word for me, but it means grecian female column statues.  This one looks like both genders.

This tower is one of the first parts you see of the chateau.

I loved all the bird activity around it!

Coat of arms on the front door.  

 Classic renaissance architecture.  Except for the tower, which was a part of the original mill on this site.

This is the hallway as you enter.  The rooms are off this main hall, and the hall directly above it.

This is the famous hallway that crosses the Cher river.  A famous prisoner exchange took place mid-way here in WWII.

Almost all chateaux have their own chapels.

Each bedroom had its own lovely fireplace.

I won't show them all, but they were all unique.

Something they do well here, is that they always have fresh flowers in each room.  I thought this vase was pretty.

Kitchen area was unique, too. 

Beautiful pieces of art are displayed.

This might be Francois, or Henri II.  Henri II let his mistress live here.  When he was killed in a tournament, his widow made her leave and live in a lesser, older castle-style chateau.

William and Tim went on a little garden walk.

I always think the out buildings that supplied the chateau with workers and where foods were stored and processed are interesting.

Quaint.

Charming.

There were formalized gardens for beauty.

The tower and the well are still from the original site.

While these gardens are pretty, they also had orchards and produce gardens.

 Always owned by a ladies...

 ... it is called the 'Ladies' Chateau.'

It is also known as 'The Wonder of the Loire Valley.' 

Set on the river Cher, a tributary of the Loire.

I think it is so beautiful and well done.  Although, if you're in the area, Chambord is also very nice! 

You can see that during wars, it was used as a hospital.

No tour is complete without taking a look at the wine area.  Where they happily were selling bottles, and so we bought one!

Brew-ha-hauler.

Old School way of getting around.

Old, old school way of getting around! 

Then,we left to get to the next stage of the Tour de France.  Mis-calculation on my part... when I asked at a rest-stop where to get food, she suggested a place further down, just off the road.  But, NO!  Won't finding one in the town be better?  Rush hour traffic, a loop around, hard to park, had to walk across this town square, etc.  Get back on the road... only to see the grocery store she suggested only a few exits down.. right off the freeway. 

It was really beautiful, but it meant the road to the top of the climb was closed by the time we arrived.  So we had to park down the mountain, and climb up to see the race.  Oh well, that was a wonderful experience as well.