Tour Swag
Our friend Romaine left the UK under strict instructions “at least bring us back treasure “.
Tour fanatics [amateurs de cyclisme] in the family were jealous when they heard she’d delayed her return by a day to witness the Tour whizz through Lautrec for the second year running.
We joined the crowd in the village with minutes to spare before the “Caravan” started to arrive.
Excited cheers greeted a lone police car leisurely passing through–briefly in the spotlight.
We found our place with a good view up the approach road and held our breaths.
A couple more anticlimaxes and then the commercial carnival began.
"The Yellow Jersey" leads the way!
with..
...Mickey mice hot on his heels.
All sorts of goodies flew through the air and were snaffled up by the waiting crowd–polka dot caps and keyrings, sweets and sausages.
Twenty minutes of wonderful madness and kids’ bags were filling up with goodies like stockings at Christmas.
“We should be over the other side where they’re stopping and handing out”
Romaine needn’t have worried…a knight in shining armour came to the rescue–more of that in a moment.
Oh yes and the Tour!–the reason we were all there.
We shot over the other side of the hill for a better view and waited.
Five helicopters flying in line announced –an “Apocalypse Now” moment–the imminent arrival of “the breakaway-group”.
We joined the children nearby waving our arms and shouting our delight.
The peloton followed–passing with a whoosh….!
It was all over and Romaine was still regretting being on the wrong side of the track!
In rides nephew Dominic–a veteran biker and experienced tour follower–with a bag of booty.
Every time he’d waved at a float from his isolated spot–goodies fell from the sky.
Dom’s a generous heart and Romaine’s only worry now was excess baggage at check in!
Robin Ellis 
What a wonderful story! And though I saw the tour on tv that day (and you were right, Lautrec looks like a beautiful place), it’s stories like this one that gives life to otherwise just another sportsevent on tv.
I have to admit, I don’t watch much of sports on tv (had an overdose, as I told you before), but my tv was on the last few days because I was curious about Lautrec and I wanted to see how my fellow-countryman who fell trough the barbed wire and still got on his bike the next day was doing.
Thanks for sharing, love this story!
Sounds like a blast all around! Three cheers for Dominic! Out of curiosity, how does Mickey Mouse figure into all of this?
Featured on the posters that passed on a float–I forget the product.
Ah! Of course! Advertisements. I suppose that makes more sense than hoping he was trying to keep up on a bicycle.
Thanks Robin: I feel better reading about your life and your friendships….. Grazie!!!
This sounds a bit like Mardi Gras in New Orleans (great city with a wonderful spirit – not to mention music and food!). They have parades throughout the city, and people throw trinkets from the floats – mostly colorful beads. I collected great piles of them when I lived there.
You know, before I knew you and Meredith I paid very little attention to the Tour de France with the exception of reading about Armstrong now and again. I want to thank you to opening my eyes to the excitement of the Tour. Of course having been there and being able to recognize some of the places makes all the difference in the world.
Thanks much, Norma