Happy 4th! (I’m not sure how that goes anymore, since I’ve missed it the last four straight years.) A grand start today. Lots of celebration and such. The prince is here. Blah, blah, blah. We don’t get to see any of it sitting in a truck all day.Instead our focus is on getting ourselves in a mode to operate. Everything seemed to be fine before lunch. But that was before lunch. When we weren’t on air. After lunch, our routers pretty much kicked it. Couldn’t get the right audio to our sources. On top of all that, the ENG crews came in the truck every 10 minutes to throw a tape in front of me. Since my audio was all screwy, I had to play interviews off disk, straight to air. Normally I would be comfortable with this, but because we use a new format called XDCAM (disc-based format), and I’m not 100% acquainted with it. I haven’t quite learned all there is to know about the format just yet; but with everyday usage, by the end of this Tour, I’ll be proficient. Don’t get me wrong, there were no mistakes on air from me, but it was nerve-racking to say the least.
It was a rough day, to say the least. And no better for Joel, who, while driving away from Monaco tonight, could not for the life of him find his eyeglasses. That’s probably the worst feeling ever, as I would never want to depend on wearing contact lenses at all times.
It’s too bad we have to leave Monaco; I was just getting to know my way around. Such is the Tour, however. So we packed up the Citroen C8 (ugly minivan-type ride) and headed west. I assumed my usual position as navigator on the hour and a half drive tonight, and we got to Brignoles with ease.Already on a later schedule in the day, a “cold dinner” was waiting for us when we arrived late, as promised. But cold dinner was 3 courses. That’s just how the French do it. This, plus how nice the hotel was, thoroughly impressed Dave Novak. So much so, that he’d offer to do the show for free next year. Nice.
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