This is the last day of my trip and it would be a long 21 hour day. I woke up sicker than the day before. I woke up at 5:00 am as we needed to be packed by 6 am, breakfast at 6:00 am and on the bus by 6:30 am to take us to the train station in Bourdeaux. Trek reserved a train specific to our tour group to take us from Bourdeaux to Paris.
The train left at 7:45 am and we arrived in Paris at 11:00 am. On the train, I figured this would be my only quiet time to do postcards so it was now or never. I got my postcards done and tried to get some rest. When we arrived in Paris, we had a bus waiting to take us to our hotel.
We got to our hotel around noon to drop off our luggage. We then walked about 1.5 miles to the Automobile Club on the Champs Elysees which would be our viewing spot for the final day of the Tour. All Trek groups would be at this spot.
At the same time, I am trying to figure out where to meet up with one of my work related vendors who happens to be a minor sponsor in the Saxobank Pro Tour Team. 
They had a VIP tent near the finish line, but security is so tight, you need a pass to even get near that section. While I am trying to coordinate a meeting spot with my vendor, I am enjoying some snacks at the Automobile Club. I finally connected with my vendor and I headed out to meet up with the vendor. I was torn between having lunch with Trek and having lunch with a group of people I don't know.
I had to take whatever option was available for me to get my pass to the finish line viewing. (It should be noted that Trek's viewing was also a great viewing spot!)
I have been in that viewing spot before and I wanted to take pictures this year from a different area of the Champs Elysees.) I finally met up with vendor, but I missed the lunch, which was OK because I really wasn't very hungry majority of the day. 
I didn't miss the chocolate dessert though! At 2 pm, we left the restaurant and headed over to our viewing spot. It was in bleacher like setting, but comfortable seats. At this point, I am feeling pretty awful. I am thinking that there is no way that I am going to do anything in the evening as I am too sick.
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| The Media Frenzy for the final lap |
I am sitting in the section waiting for almost 2 hours for the Tour to come through. We are watching it on the big screen during that time. I almost fell asleep! When I have been there in the past, I do remember being so tired on the last day that I am ready to take a nap waiting for the Tour to come through. Finally when the Tour started their 1st of 8 laps, I thought, how am I going to get decent pictures with everyone around me holding their cameras up?
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| Mark Cavendish wins the final stage |
Then I saw a couple people in our group go down to the fence in front of the seats to start taking pictures. There were only a few people that did that, but I didn't waste anytime. I got out of my seat and went to the fence. That is where I remained until the end of the Tour ceremonies...2 1/2 hours later. Our viewing spot was just passed the finish line and so I got some good shots of Cavendish winning the stage.
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Many riders are shaking Lance's hand as he
crosses the finish line one last time |
As I waited for the final ceremonies, I didn't think I would see the podium or I thought it might be facing the opposite direction. In a matter of moments, all of a sudden I see the podium rolled out onto the Champs Elysees and it was facing us. We were probably 50 meters away from it, but I was able to get good pictures of all the podium winners.
I took extra pictures of Lance as this is his last time as a pro cyclist on the Champs Elysees. It is now about 6:30 pm and I am suppose to meet my vendor at their hotel to catch a bus to the Team Saxobank party at 7 pm. By this time, I was feeling well enough to do the party as I can always leave early if I need to leave early.
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| Schleck, Contador, Menchov - Final Podium |
Since I am still at the finish line at 6:30, there is no way that I can walk 1.5 miles to my hotel, change clothes and freshen up and then walk 2.5 miles to my vendor's hotel. My contact with the vendor did say I could take a cab to get to the party as long as I got there no later than 8 pm. I then left the finish line and stopped by the Tour buses to take a couple pictures. I didn't feel well enough to hang around to try to get autographs.
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| Team GC - Radioshack - Lance's last time on podium |
I then walked 1.5 miles back to my hotel, changed clothes, said a quick goodbye to some of the people in my travel group and I headed to the dinner/party. When I got to the party, I found out that the party was going to last until 3:00 am! Team Saxobank showed up at 10:30. That is when we had dinner. At 12:30 am, they were just serving dessert. It was at that point, I decided I needed to leave. I got back to my hotel at 1:00 am. Packed my suitcase and I was in bed by 2:00 am (note the 21 hour day).
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| Lance leaving Champs Elysees for good |
Got up at 6:15 am to have a cab pick me up and take me to the airport to head back to Seattle. Although I was sick the last 2 days of the trip, I still had a great time. I just didn't have my normal 110% energy to burn the candle at both ends. The overall trip was a fantastic trip with Trek.
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| Normal crowd at the Radioshack Bus |
We had a great group of people in our group. I am looking forward to doing another trip with Trek. I keep thinking about that Madone I rode throughout that week. The Madone fit me pretty good. I've been wanting to get a carbon bike, so perhaps a Madone might be on my list for this year.
TEAM SAXOBANK PARTY
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| Les Pavillons de Bercy Theatre |
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| Jens Voigt |
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| Andy Schleck - 2nd Place Tour de France |
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| Andy Schleck |
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Team Saxobank including Frank Schleck who crashed out of the Tour
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The train left at 7:45 am and we arrived in Paris at 11:00 am. On the train, I figured this would be my only quiet time to do postcards so it was now or never. I got my postcards done and tried to get some rest. When we arrived in Paris, we had a bus waiting to take us to our hotel. 
At the same time, I am trying to figure out where to meet up with one of my work related vendors who happens to be a minor sponsor in the Saxobank Pro Tour Team. 
They had a VIP tent near the finish line, but security is so tight, you need a pass to even get near that section. While I am trying to coordinate a meeting spot with my vendor, I am enjoying some snacks at the Automobile Club. I finally connected with my vendor and I headed out to meet up with the vendor. I was torn between having lunch with Trek and having lunch with a group of people I don't know. 
I had to take whatever option was available for me to get my pass to the finish line viewing. (It should be noted that Trek's viewing was also a great viewing spot!) 
I didn't miss the chocolate dessert though! At 2 pm, we left the restaurant and headed over to our viewing spot. It was in bleacher like setting, but comfortable seats. At this point, I am feeling pretty awful. I am thinking that there is no way that I am going to do anything in the evening as I am too sick. 
I have been on 3 other TDFs trips with another tour company and I can say our viewing spot and the surroundings were the most scenic of any time trial viewing spot I have experienced in the past. 
