Watching in Arles...

Well, we found some gas and are leaving Narbonne. Of course prior to our "departe" we picked up a 5 liter box of local Armissan wine. Our conversation is centered on yesterday's departure of Saunier-Duval for a positive doping test of Ricardo Ricco. At the time of his doping he was wearing the King of the Mountain polka dot jersey. In fact, at the start in Lannemezan, the whole team was on the stage and being celebrated for winning the Team Classification. What a huge fall from grace for Ricco - who won 2 stages - and the team. We figured that for publicity reasons, the sponsor probably yanked them immediately. One point of note - in Le Equipe, the sporting newspaper who owns the Tour, all the names of the racers are there. When a rider abandons, their name is just marked through with a straight line - not removed. Therefore, once you're gone, your name is still there to remind people you left the race - perhaps piling on more humility or shame!

How to solve the doping problem is a complex one and it certainly has created suspicion in the mind of many fans. Yesterday as soon as Cavendish crossed the finish line, Scott and I were cheering and 3 older French men next to us immediately gestured injecting into one's bicep and said: "Doper!" It was an interesting indictment of the whole race.

Some random thought about traveling in France:
• cars actually pass on the left and immediately pull over into the right lane
• lots of windmills all over central France
• a wonderful mix of old and new - centuries old chateaus and castles interfacing with newer development
• almost all the farms we see are really nicely kept - no junk laying around - often a crumbling old (as in centuries old) farmhouse
• it's fun driving with the speedometer going well over the 100 number!
• there are billboards that rotate around so the add changes every few minutes - interesting way to maximize exposure
• vegetables are not a high priority at meals, salads are few and far between - a far cry from Corvallis
• in one town, at the Wednesday Farmer's market, there were tons of meats, cheeses, fruit, jams, and honey - but no vegetables.

After the race yesterday, Scott and I met a very friendly South African couple - Liam and Andrea - traveling with their 7 year-old son Connor and 14 month old daughter with wild Irish name which I unfortunately can't remember. After closing down the portable refreshment stand by the finish line, we walked through town with them and had great discussions about Europe in general - they live in Barcelona. We've found that in general, the Euros we have met are very well versed in American politics. Liam mentioned to me that he believed most Europeans were satisfied by the decision and act of removing a despot from power, but were very dissatisfied with the aftermath. He was feeling that many were really hoping the dollar would rebound as there has been a big drop in American tourism, which does have a financial effect. At least we're doing our job by filling up our car - a diesel Mercedes mini-van - for about $160! Thankfully we're getting great mileage.
For a perspective on age - we had drinks in a café along a canal, 50 meters from remnants of a Roman road. Narbonne was the Roman capital of the region - talk about antiquity!
The canal scene is an interesting one. People have houseboats and travel along the canals from city to city. It seems like a nice casual way to travel, maybe bring bikes and do rides - could be kid friendly as well.
So far we have seen 3 finishes and one start, ridden over 100 miles, climbed what feels like a million meters, gotten a picture with the King of the Mountain podium girls, and really soaked in the countryside - and people. A reality is that seeing the Tour in person is super exciting and gives one a real feel for the reverence the populous has for cycling, however, it is a zoo. Like the guy said - "the French like chaos".
Presently we are heading to Arles for lunch while the riders head towards Nimes. We're aiming to have lunch in a bar and watch the stage on tv - and find WiFi. The plan is to blast through some of the flat area to position ourselves for the Alpes stages. We also need to jettison Scott in Nice so he can join his family in Oslo.