Paris, Day Four: Tour de France!

One Paris adventure we've been excited about has been the closure of certain city streets on Sunday afternoons for the purpose of communal, urban rollerblading. We thought we'd do this today, so you can imagine our chagrin when we learned that today's rollerblading was cancelled. The reason? The Tour de France's arrival in Paris!

So, after a day exploring a wonderfully labyrinthine flea market of antique shit on the edge of the city, we made it back to l'appartement for a quick breather before making our way to la Rue de Rivoli right next to the Louvre, where the procession of bicyclists arrived to proceed up the Champs-Elysees and around the Arc de Triomphe in an eight-lap circuit before a throng of cheering thousands. We exited Palais-Royal Musee Du Louvre Metro stop where instructed and walked around the corner to the Rue Rivoli to place ourselves right behind the barricades where the bicyclists would corner around the Louvre.

Were we there an hour early? Yes
Was everyone hungry and tired because we'd not eaten dinner in between our Clingnancourt flea market adventure and our Tour de France expedition? Yes.
Was there dissent in the ranks as we waited and waited and waited? Also, yes.

Was it worth it? Totally.

Afterwards we took the salami, prosciutto, bread and cheese to a bench near a fountain to eat small sandwiches before making our way home. Standing that long at the barricades had put Bennett's back out, and he had become tippy again. Griffin supported him as we negotiated the Metro home.