summertime

This morning we bid farewell to Annecy and took a ferry across the lake to catch the TGV (pronounced Tay-Jay-Vay). Thanks to my French tutor Yasmina, from Berkeley, I can pronounce my alphabet. Completing a sentence in French is another story. The TGV is the high speed train that transports you to Paris in about 3 hours. I sat next to the window and watched as we passed field after field of sunflowers. Once we arrived in Paris, we quickly walked over to a bar to catch the time trial stage on television. This was going to be the day to decide who wears the maillot jaune (yellow jersey) in Paris. I had been rooting for a dark horse to win the tour. Although Carlos Satre was still considered a favorite by some, most people thought today's stage was in the bag for the Australian, Cadel Evans. As they say, the time trial is the race of truth and Carlos rode the race of his life today. I was so excited that I was still wearing goose bumps on my arms as we exited the bar. This was likely Carlos' last year to make the podium in Paris, and he'll be standing on that podium in yellow.

Tomorrow the riders take to the line for their final stage of the tour. The finish will end in Paris and I will be there to witness them head down Le Champs Elysees. We have amazing seats for the finish. I'll be standing on the balcony of the 2nd floor of the Automobile Club. It's located on Rue de Rivoli, right across from the Place de la Concorde. It doesn't get much better than this I'm afraid.

There is something truly captivating about Paris. After dinner, I strolled with some friends from the trip around the St. Germain area. We came upon a bridge (Point Desarts) that crosses over the Seine river and spits you out just in front of the Louvre. As we crossed the bridge we saw groups of young teens huddled in pods of 5 or 6 picnicing on the bridge. It was dusk and the air was still warm from today's heat. My favorite moments of travel are when I can see a city through the eyes of a local. At that moment, I felt as though I was spending my Saturday evening a Parisian.

As we walked to the Louvre, I heard a saxophone playing 'Summertime.' How fitting I thought. Afterall, it is 'summertime and the living is easy.'

We made our final turn back to the hotel and saw the Eiffel Tower light up. It started as white, dancing lights and eventually faded to a steady, true blue. I caught some pictures from my phone tonight. I hope you can see them on the slideshow portion of my blog. They aren't the best of quality, but should help capture the essence of a remarkable evening.