All of us woke up to the noise of a blasting alarm at exactly 5:00 on Sunday morning. I knew we had to get up extra early just so we could get a spot on the Champs-élysées to see the Tour De France riders come by. As most of us quickly got out of our beds and into the showers, Nick and I packed some small bags that had what we would need for the day. This would include, water, some snacks, chargers, playing cards, money, and some noise makers I brought just for this part of the trip. once everyone had very quickly gone through the showers and got their clothes on it was around 6:00. On our way out of the bed and breakfast, we got some breakfast bars that nick and I packed in our backpacks and ate them on the way there. While we were walking the few blocks it was to get to the Champs-élysées, we could see other people and groups of people like us walking toward the Champs-élysées to get a good spot. We finished up our breakfast bars by the time we reached the area of the Champs-élysées that we were planing to watch the riders and it was already crowded. We put down our backpacks on the fence along the Champs-élysées and sat down in front of them as more and more people kept packing in. To pass the time, I got out the deck of playing cards Nick and I packed in our bags and Nolan, Nick,Jake, and I played games of blackjack while Kai sleep cause he said he was way to tired. After some more games and some more waiting it was around 12:00. There was a substantial crowd piled up near our spot but, we found a restaurant, the
Pomme de Pain, that sold sandwiches and chips that was near where we were siting. Because Jake and Nolan lost the most games when we were playing cards, we sent them out to get food for all of us. it took the about 45 minutes to shimmy through the crowd and come back with our Luke-warm sandwiches, as it had been a decent time since they bought them. We dug into our sandwiches around 1:00, which also happened to be the time that the parade on the Champs-élysées started.
SPORT: The parade showcased the companies and organizations that sponsored the Tour De France and the upcoming riders. While the Parade went by, floats gave the people watching cool and sponsored souvenir items like key chains and hats.
This is an example of one of the floats in the parade
Once the parade quickly finished coming through the Champs-élysées and we packed away our souvenirs, we got ready to see the riders come through and finish the Tour De France. It was around 2:45 when we first caught a glimpse of a Tour car introducing the riders not far behind. With people already screaming their heads off cheering, the ride began its eight lap journey on the Champs-élysées, under the Arch De Triumph, and under the Seine river. We quickly got out our cowbell noise makers that we packed in our bags/ from some of the floats in the parade and stared cheering as the blur of hundreds of riders came by our spot on the Champs-élysées. we cheered for about one and a half minutes before we saw the next tour car that came behind all of the bikers. As they curved around the Arch De triumph and went under the Seine river we all got ready for them to come by our spot on the Champs-élysées again. It repeated seeing the car, then seeing the awesome blur of riders come by for seven more times before it came to a sentimental ending at the Arch De Triumph. Luckily there were no crashes on this stage of the Tour
This is some of the riders on the Champs-élysées
Around 6:00 Our voices were more than worn out after all the screaming and cheering but we stayed a little to catch a glimpse of the award ceremony, crowning the 41st winners of the Tour De France. After we saw the awards Ceremony, we quickly shimmed through the giant crowd with all of our backpacks and walked to the Chez Andre for a relaxing seafood meal. After we enjoyed our meal, it was around 9:00 and we walked back to the hotel where we got to sleep early after a long but fun day.
This is the award ceremony
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