VIDEO Taking The Tour

Our recent vacation time included an opportunity (thanks to Nature Girl's planning) to take in one of the great spectacles in sport -- the Tour de France. We picked up the second day of actual racing, choosing a spot in Villeneuve Lobet, a village stretching from the Mediterranean just west of Nice into the Cote d'Azur hills. This was the first day the cyclists left Monaco and headed into France's cities, towns and villages.

The folks behind this "World Series" of cycling show an absolute genius for marketing not only the sport but also the sponsors and even the country itself. Different routes each year highlight new cities, towns, villages and areas of France. The practiced eye will see cameras on motorcycles before, at the head of the pack, at the end of the pack, and located in strategic points along the packed route.

Many thanks to our newfound friends Corrine and Klaus for their patience with our very poor French and their excellent English. It was great to spend the time between Tour activities talking about the history of this region (the Marquis of this village was one of the few to keep his land and his head during the French Revolution) as well as get a European view of things. I'm always struck at just how much we have in common despite the miles that separate people.

We were told it would be two hours of waiting for a two minute payoff. He was wrong. It was more like nearly three hours of waiting, but it was worth it watching the crowd grow and the long line of sponsors with brightly-colored cars and trucks stream by as part of the "Caravan," sometimes tossing trinkets and hats. At this point the cyclists are secondary; we're here for the party.