So ... did you rush over to Paris at the weekend then?

[bonk man]

My girlfriend and I did a last minute chuck stuff in car and drive 100's miles to be there..... Best ever weekend.... ever...
Did you do the same? There were loads of folk on bikes early Sunday morning at Dieppe ferry port pedalling into the dawn

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

I would have, but I would have needed to take out a mortgage just to get a last minute flight (yes, yes, but I wanted to make sure he was going to win first).

 

[martint235]

I got as far as Dieppe

 

[bonk man]

I got as far as Dieppe

ha ha ... nearly got left behind at Dieppe on way back, both fell asleep in car park, one of the ferry workers woke us up and we scuttled onto the ferry red faced..

 

[getnoticed]

No, but my wife wants to make it to a few stages in 2013. Sh got right into Tdf this year. Suits me fine!

 

[tigger]

Yeah bonk man... my mate described it to his wife as "the best weekend ever" too. I think she muttered something about their wedding day but he wouldn't relent...

We booked an Easyjet from Liverpool to Paris about 10 days prior. It only cost about £120 return. Departed 7.30 Sat, arrived in Paris at 10.00, took the bus from CDG to Montparnasse station and caught the train to Chartres just in time, so we arrived there at about 12.15. There were loads of Brits on the train and strangely enough I bumped into 2 cyclists from my home town. After a very pleasant lunch we made our way to the time trial just in time to see Cav zip through the lantern rouge. The time trial was surprisingly quiet early on so it was easy to get a good spot near the finish line and in view of the big screen too. We also had pretty much full access to the media centres and the team buses, which was surprising to me, so there were loads of opportunities for photos and autographs. It was great to be there when Wiggo sealed this historic victory.

We got a 7.00 train back to Paris and stayed in a Etap - never great but at only £30 for the room you can't complain. In the morning we got the Metro to the Louve, had a wander around the park and then made our way towards the end of the circuit by about 11.00. Absolutely stunning weather! We decided not to view from the Champs Elysee as we wanted to see Wiggo do his lead out, so we claimed a spot on the barrier at the beginning of Place de la Concorde - a great spot I think as you get a view at speed for about 800 metres. We were duly rewarded by Wiggo - what a lead out! He blew them away for over 600-700 metres. We knew Cav had already won when he dropped him and Boassen Hagan off. Sadly it was very different in terms of access to the day before and the police would not let us up the Champs Elysee for the presentation. Our flight back was a 10.00 and with the time difference we landed back in Liverpool at the same time.

So for me, we had perfect flights, it only cost about £250 all in and we had the best weekend of our lives! I'll definitely be going again some time.

 

[bonk man]

Yes - cycled to Paris from London via Newhaven/Dieppe with some of the Fridays mob, then rode home again via Rouen.

hey did you get the 11pm sailing? we were in a battered red Puegeot :-) I was a bit jealous of those pedalling there but my gf is not quite up to the distance... yet....

 

[yello]

Nope, didn't even think of it, not for a moment. I hate crowds, to the point of getting anxiety attacks, so I avoid such occasions. I'm okay in cinemas or theatres, where everything is a little more orderly but big concerts, festivals, carnivals, etc... no way. It is a real shame but there you go.

 

[bonk man]

Bikes on trains seems to be quite easy in France, so you could have sent the gf on ahead?

Nah .. it was all much too last minute for that.... we got lost enough as it was, no maps and no bloomin idea of where we were.. we actually navigated by the stars, well planet that was in the eastern sky!
ha ha.. this was only because some of the road signs were so vague we had no choice.. my gf found it all very amusing... my wife would have beaten me to death....

 

[dellzeqq]

rode to Paris with TMN and many others, but returned on Eurostar Sunday morning to watch the final stage on the telly at home. And, oddly, it worked really well. I've done the standing by the road bit, and, wonderful though it was, it's something you do once

 

[rvw]

We had to be in the UK due to another commitment: in fact, watching until the end on TV very nearly made us late...

 

[srw]

We had to be in the UK due to another commitment: in fact, watching until the end on TV very nearly made us late...

Although if it wasn't the fact that I had a meeting on the Friday afternoon that I really couldn't miss I would have been mentioning the idea of joining dell, TMN and the crew on the Fridays' ride. As it was, the Friday meeting was cancelled relatively late on - but by that stage we were committed on the Sunday.

What's the date next year?