Written by: Chris Wallis
Saturday, July 02, 2011

Today was the day it all kicked off and having set myself in the mindset that it could only get better i wasn't too far wrong, but only a little.

The start was an unimpressive roll over the Passage du Gois, in a complete opposite to the last time they crossed this tidal road they could just roll to the end before the actual start of the race. I decided to skip this part, it seemed a shame but with no yellow jersey to pick out and no proper racing it didn't hold any appeal for me. Then somehow in 30 or 40kms south along the coast the managed to miss any possible sight of the sea or sand or anthing that looked like a seaside.

It a desperate attempt to make it seem coastly i went on a mini expedition and found myself on a river bed looking up to the bunch as it rolled over a bridge. From that point on it was back to normal for the tour, a couple of hours finding my way though the french country side to get to the finish. In classic style i missed the turning and found myself the wrong side of the barriers and stuck with several other cars with some luck and a sat nav i found my way back around to the right route without having to drive 20kms back down the motor way, which given i had ran out of change for the peage road was a good plan.

The finish left me dreaming of the mountains where invidual shots are easier to come by and you don't need a green bib and 300mm lens to get a finish shot.

Finally fighting my way through the traffic to head back to my hotel i was greeted with a great surpires "Monsieur Wallis votre valise est arrivé, son dans votre chambre ..." even my school by french could translate that, clean pants and sock and a t shirt that didn't stink :)

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