The Tour Comes To Town

Saturday morning we all headed out into the blazing sun, foolishly forgetting the girls' hats, to watch the penultimate day of the Tour. Their task was to zoom a few times around town and the surrounding area, before finishing at La Place de la Reconciliation (isn't that a great name?) which has a nice playpark including swings (rare thing here) but a lot of mosquitoes!

Here they come speeding past

Watched by their faithful fans (we made it on to tv again!)
Bertie's eldest sister works with the Stadium so was on duty all day - this involved lots of sitting around in the hot sun!
Then we dashed over to the arrival line where the MC was creating some ambiance before the thrilling arrival which saw a local boy win
I snapped snapped snapped but I don't know if I got one photo where you can see a cyclist!
The Tour then continued at the town velodrome but we had to set off for a party. The following day it concluded at Pointe à Pitre, with victory for a Colombian called Pena Pena for the fourth time. We all thought his name was Pena and the guy on the radio just kept getin gexcited and repeating it! At least we are a bit freer of traffic jams for the next 12 months!

The Tour At Every Corner

With all his family to look after, Bertie hasn't been able to consecrate as much time to the Tour as he would have done in the past. However, we have discovered if Mohammed won't come to the mountain...

Yesterday we set off nice and early for Ti Bou, a lovely activity park we visited last holiday. However, we found their price of €12 per child rather outrageous for a couple of hours visit (much cheaper before, but apparently they put the prices up as they were too complicated. Hmmm) so at the suggestion of another family there, we set off for another park in the mountains along a road called La Traversée (as it cuts throught the mountains of Basse Terre). "15 minutes drive" Bertie said cheerfully, as I debated whether to feed the hungry Baby JoJo before setting off. Ten minutes into the drive, uh oh, a bit of traffic ahead... We stopped. And stayed. And waited. What was happening? Had everyone decided the prices of Ti Bou were scandalous and headed to Les Mamelles? Then it hit us as the radios blared out of every car around - the Tour was due to pass by the way! We had already missed them earlier so we got out the car in excitement to see them pass. Great was our disappointment when a neighbouring car said it was actually going a slightly different way. But then, to our delight, along came the warning motorbike gendarmes followed by vehicle after vehicle (how many do they need for one little Tour?!) and finally the cyclists themselves! Ok, we only saw them for a few seconds but it was a beautiful sight as they swarmed passed in multi-coloured outfits, and we may even have made it on tv!

By now, it was getting late, so we decided to visit my friend Sylvie instead. Back we turned, sped along happily until...uh oh, traffic ahead! Surely not again? We missed the cyclists by minutes and finally made it to our destination for a quick hello before heading home for a lengthy siesta to get over all the excitement.

Today we set off later than planned for St Anne again and another dip in the sea. Yes, you know the story...traffic ahead, it can't be? It was! The Tour yet again! So we turned back for another beach only to be sent to the side of the road by the motorbike gendarme and his megaphone. Then swept passed the cyclists and the many motorbikes and cars round a rather steep bend and hill, leaving us feeling somewhat vulnerable at the side of the road! One cyclist bombed along centimetres from us!

Then it was all over, leaving us to carry on our journey and enjoy a lovely time at the beach. This time we were far more organised with our new cold bag (essential item here) and bottle of ice - it becomes water by the time you want to drink it! We also got the girls a bucket and spade kit and they had great fun digging a canal with Bertie and filling it with water to the sea. Baby JoJo and I just chilled on the side, not wanting to go into the midday sun.

Tomorrow the Tour hits our town so we get to see it close up! The flags are up, the streets are clean, the barriers are in place...

Beach At Last!

I love coconut trees! Baby JoJo in his new suit - so cool! Thanks Bex!
Loving the water
Gorgeous girls
Setting up camp - can you see Dora the Explorer in the tree? She is LissaLou's new favourtie toy, going everywhere with us!
No dolls were harmed in the taking of this photoIn the water
Daddy managing all three of them nicelyA week after our arrival saw our first trip to the beach - St Anne, which is the most touristy and the best for children. Lovely shallow blue water laps around your feet, with golden sand underfoot... The reality for me is ages lathering on sun tan lotion, salt in your eyes and mouth (ugh) and sand sticking to you afterwards, impossible to remove. We laughed at a picture of a new product which is essentially a bag you can hang from a tree and shower under, but as we tipped water from a bottle over ourselves and tried to remove that sticky feeling, it didn't seem such a bad idea!

The girls loved the water, though LissaLou follows in my footsteps and doesn't like the salt very much. It was great to see them splashing around and giggling. Baby JoJo had a few minutes kicking in his baby seat and seemed very pleased with it. He swallowed water once and had a most upset face, which I quite understand!

On our way home we wondered why so many people were standing on the edge of the road watching us, then realised The Tour was due to pass that way. We considered stopping to watch but decided against it - a good decision as they didn't pass for another two hours! People queue early!

The Tour Is Here!

Watching the prologue And the rain came down!
You have no doubt heard of the Tour de France, cycling's premier event of the year...Well last night saw the beginning of the close second: Tour de Guadeloupe! 10 days of passion, intrigue, heat...or was that Les Feux de l'Amour? Well, lots of heat and hills anyway.

This is one of Bertie's favourite events so last night we headed off with the kids to watch the Prologue in Pointe-à-Pitre. This involved watching 130 or so cyclists zoom past at at top speed, whilst we enjoyed our bokits (kind of large round fried bread with a filling of chicken or tuna or dry cod, lavishly spread with mayo or ketchup) and sinobols (grated ice with sirop de menthe or grenadine - so refreshing!).

Amazing what you find on Google images - here they are! I am not quite sure of the legalities of using photos from the web but click on the images and you will see where they are from.

Bokit - creole hamburger apparently

Sinobol
As with our previous visits, the heavens opened and so did the umbrellas, but the cyclists bravely sped on. Bertie and his sister were delighted that two of their locals sped their way to victory.

You may wonder how exactly they manage to make the tour last 10 days over such a small island? Fair point! The routes are repeated and don't reach the 220 km of the Other Tour, I think 70 km is the longest. But they have my respect for cycling in this heat! Later in the week they will pass through our town and we will no doubt be out in force to watch them pass.

BTW On my first visit here in 2000 I actually appeared on Guadeloupe TV whilst watching the Tour on someone's roof! Fame!