Tour de France

After spending a lazy day Saturday in the city, I could not wait for Sunday! TOUR DE FRANCE WAS COMING TO THE CHAMPS ELYSEES!! I've had the opportunity to be in Paris for some of the coolest things in the world...literally! World Cup finals, Haute Couture Fashion Week the filming of Gossip Girl, Bastille Day & now the Tour de France!

I got up and went to the 1:30 service at American Church in Paris & the message was about the Prodigal Son & how Jesus REALLY was the Prodigal Son because He had everything, but went away from his father and came down to Earth and ended up without anything. They served coffee (there was even milk & sugar so I was thrilled) & biscuits in the meeting area after the service & I met lots of people from the congregation. I met this old french man & besides the fact that he smelt like a sewer & was totally pro-Obama, he told me that Americans were liars. If I hadn't been in a church, I would have wanted to punch him. He told me that he didn't believe that I would be back at church next week because I am an American & Americans never keep their word. I wanted to ask him why he was at the AMERICAN church in Paris! ppsshh!
After a near smack down, Lisa & I headed over towards Champs-Elysées to see the big race! Apparently, this was the shortest & easiest leg of the race & there was a route mapped out & the bikers had to ride 8 laps before the winner was announced. There were more people out & about in the streets than Bastille Day! There were sponsor cars everywhere with big figurines on top, loud music & little kiosks spotted along the famous street selling memorbilia, food, jerseys; etc. It was definitely a sight to be seen! I saw lots of spanish flags, french flags & even an American flag in there too! Lisa found a legit spot that was about 2 rows back from the road...right in the action! There were these 3 OBNOXIOUS kids standing infront of us & besides the fact that they were stepping all over us, they kept fighting & I literally wanted to scream "LADY TAKE YOUR KIDS HOME!" FINALLY after waiting like 30 minutes we noticed lots of motorcycles drive by. Then sponsor cars. Then repair cars with tons of bikes on the roof incase something happened to a riders bike. Then came the cheering! The sea of bikers hurdled past on the other side of the blockade, which split the road in half. There were more bikers than I would have imagined! They just kept coming & coming & coming! I was snapping pictures left & right! They circled around the Arc de Triomphe & then fllllleeeeewwww right infront of us. It literally felt like a wind tunnel.
When they made it around for lap 2, there was a biker who was WAAYYY ahead of all the others. The clear winner...wrong. As they began each new lap, there was a new biker in the lead! After lap 5, there were about 10 riders who had really broke out from the crowd. After that, we decided that we had seen enough because seeing bikers ride past you is only exciting for so long. Michael & Bryson had landed & gotten to Paris & I couldnt wait to go see them! I honestly don't even know (or care for that matter) who won the Tour de France. I wanted to go to the podium, but there were masses of people & that would have been impossible. It was really funny to see wannabe Tour de France guys biking around the city in their spandex onesies & helmets. Better luck next year...or NOT!

My ghetto French go-phone didn' t save Michael's number, so I headed home to put it in my phone & google hostels for them since they didnt have anywhere to stay & were currently wandering around the city...

All in all, I'd say its pretty cool to be able to say that you've seen the Tour de France in person! What a fun day!!