Triple Digits

Things start seeming a bit surreal when it gets this hot. Even the sunflowers have given up the ghost. This is the last of the lot looking a bit forlorn and awaiting dispatch on the laundry room window.  We have umbrellas strategically placed over the plants we just planted...especially the fig tree which is looking a bit shell shocked. We're grateful on these days to have air conditioning and no pressing need to go outside....

The wild weather in the Tour de France meant we didn't see stage 20 until this morning (live at 4am. Good thing we recorded it). We don't really know why, but we have both been avid fans since 2003. We were in Italy for a family wedding, and it was hot. Just like it is here today. We were flying out of Malpensa, which is quite a long way from Milan and we decided not to go into the city for dinner but to stay in the air conditioned hotel room. With nothing else to do, we turned on the television which had two channels, both showing the Tour, one in French and the other in Italian. That was the beginning. I don't think we have missed more than the odd stage or two ever since...in English since 2003.

The Tour is the only sport I have watched consistently enough to understand the rules, the strategy and the contests within the contest. I know the players and I love the countryside. It has survived scandals and disasters yet continues to proceed with time honored pageantry and a certain gentlemanly adherence to unwritten rules. With nothing else to do, we watched both final stages today. I would have loved to see the logistics going on behind the scenes when stages 19 and 20 were cut short due to torrential rain and landslides....19 in mid-race and 20 out of an abundance of caution...There must have been confusion, frustration and disappointment, but it was all handled remarkably smoothly...at least to the viewer's eye.

I think this is one of the most exciting tours I have seen.The Columbians are going to be a force going forward and I congratulate them on both their skill in the high mountains and on their spectacular win. I imagine the entire country is celebrating going bonkers tonight.

I wept a bit as the final credits rolled after the last award ceremony in Paris.Three weeks is a long time to spend with commentators Phil Liggett and Bob Roll and all the riders. I'll miss them and the wonderful respite they have given us from the news....