Saint Amand-Montrond is west on D46 and then northwest on A71. This will be an easy run and it's actually safer on the Autoroute / Autobahn than on the state highways as that gives me a lot more clearance between me and passing trucks! If you can't handle riding with about a meter or so between you and a big-rig truck then the Bundestrasse is not for you. I'm not trying to be a tough guy as I didn't really get this until yesterday when I was running with a whole lot of truck traffic between Macon and Moulins on N79. You bet it's scary (laughs).
Finding a hotel around Saint Amand-Montrond is probably not a good bet but it's not supposed to rain again and I may find myself parked along the route somewhere. It won't be much of a live roving report if it's not live but we shall see how it goes. My plan is heading there today gives lots of time to search out a spot. What I would like is to find WiFi to get some phone time with Cat as I've been sorely missing that so hopefully today.
Tomorrow Le Tour will be approaching Saint Amand-Montrond from the east in Tours and you can see all the details at Tour de France 2013 (English). Thanks to jsmn for the link. I had seen it previously but didn't use it as well as I might have because I was looking for a graphic. This link is actually much better than the graphic I found.
That was a wee bit mechanical so let's have some pictures!
This is the main street through Saint Pourcain-sur-Sioule and it's very quiet in the morning. I assume this is the path Le Tour will take into town.
I was just wandering and found a Boulangerie nearby with a very pleasant young man behind the counter. Characterising all French people with bad manners is not fair as I have only encountered that one time and you can find pretentious young girls anywhere! That's not to say young boys are immune to being pretentious as well, tho.
Nope, sorry, I didn't get his name. I guess I'm fired as your reporter but I will continue as the photographer. He's a good guy and, like everyone else, he was surprised that I wanted to take his picture but he went right along with it even moving to a good place behind the counter. You can see from his shirt that he's not just working the cash register, he's also a baker.
And I wandered some more.
This is another view of the same church I photographed yesterday and again it looks entirely different from the other views. I have not been inside it but I expect it's gorgeous as those are all stained-glass windows on the left side of the picture. I have a tough time believing this was built in 1858 as it looks much older. A student of architecture may be able to identify that better, I just like what I see. You may not be able to tell it but there are residences built into the right side of it. Quite a curious structure!
This is on the window of the restaurant for Le Globe, where I am staying. Any questions about fever for the race!
And here is the hotel, Le Globe:
It's been quite charming here and it's more personal than most of the other places I've stayed. For most places one can simply put your card in the door and leave but from Le Globe it wouldn't be right without saying Au Revoir. (Say that like it's a kiss. There is no 'r' on the end of it. Oh rev-wah!)
Finding a hotel around Saint Amand-Montrond is probably not a good bet but it's not supposed to rain again and I may find myself parked along the route somewhere. It won't be much of a live roving report if it's not live but we shall see how it goes. My plan is heading there today gives lots of time to search out a spot. What I would like is to find WiFi to get some phone time with Cat as I've been sorely missing that so hopefully today.
Tomorrow Le Tour will be approaching Saint Amand-Montrond from the east in Tours and you can see all the details at Tour de France 2013 (English). Thanks to jsmn for the link. I had seen it previously but didn't use it as well as I might have because I was looking for a graphic. This link is actually much better than the graphic I found.
That was a wee bit mechanical so let's have some pictures!
This is the main street through Saint Pourcain-sur-Sioule and it's very quiet in the morning. I assume this is the path Le Tour will take into town.
I was just wandering and found a Boulangerie nearby with a very pleasant young man behind the counter. Characterising all French people with bad manners is not fair as I have only encountered that one time and you can find pretentious young girls anywhere! That's not to say young boys are immune to being pretentious as well, tho.
Nope, sorry, I didn't get his name. I guess I'm fired as your reporter but I will continue as the photographer. He's a good guy and, like everyone else, he was surprised that I wanted to take his picture but he went right along with it even moving to a good place behind the counter. You can see from his shirt that he's not just working the cash register, he's also a baker.
And I wandered some more.
This is another view of the same church I photographed yesterday and again it looks entirely different from the other views. I have not been inside it but I expect it's gorgeous as those are all stained-glass windows on the left side of the picture. I have a tough time believing this was built in 1858 as it looks much older. A student of architecture may be able to identify that better, I just like what I see. You may not be able to tell it but there are residences built into the right side of it. Quite a curious structure!
This is on the window of the restaurant for Le Globe, where I am staying. Any questions about fever for the race!
And here is the hotel, Le Globe:
It's been quite charming here and it's more personal than most of the other places I've stayed. For most places one can simply put your card in the door and leave but from Le Globe it wouldn't be right without saying Au Revoir. (Say that like it's a kiss. There is no 'r' on the end of it. Oh rev-wah!)
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