Riding in the car with the producer of the show does have its benefits. One of them is having priority (usually) at the best/most convenient hotels. So while most people drove from an hour away to get here this morning (here being Saint-Girons), we walked a half mile down the street to get to the compound.Of course, it wasn’t as easy as it could’ve been. Because we followed the talent to the finish line, and not the map. We saw some back roads of Saint-Girons we would for no other reason see because we were trying to find our way. It actually led to an interesting street market where locals were selling anything from handmade purses to scraps of metal.
Absolutely cannot wait for a day off on Monday. I need all the hours possible to catch back up on sleep. No word on whether there will be an opportunity to golf or not, but what we do know is that there is a 6+ hour drive ahead of us tomorrow night. Got this text message tonight (from Ben):
“Get ready for the Versus Pétanque Tournament 2009…The Tournament is free and organized in partnership with the mayor of Bonnat (city of the rest day) and the International Jury! So be ready!”
‘Pétanque’, by Wikipedia.org’s definition, is “a form of boules where the goal is, while standing with the feet together in a small circle, to throw hollow metal balls as close as possible to a small wooden ball called a cochonnet.” So it’s bocce, essentially. I recall hearing about the crew playing it last year as well.
Tonight, we are fortunate enough to be graced with the presence of Team Astana in the same [small] hotel as us. Which means Lance is here. Somewhere. I came down to meet the fortunate few of the crew for dinner, for what should’ve been a nice outdoor dinner on the terrace.
Unfortunately, because Astana and their posse (what’s the cyclists’ equivalent?) had cordoned off the entire area, we were forced to eat indoors. Which had no air conditioning. Screw you, Astana. Nahhh, I’m just kidding. You guys are still cool. I guess I came down too early, as I only saw Alberto Contador and Yaroslav Popovych. I later found out Lance was sitting maybe 20 yards away for dinner, on the other side of the wall. One day, he and I will be buddies. One day.I haven’t had internet in the hotel for 2 days. So, sleep now; an unfortunate 1-hour drive tomorrow morning to get to Tarbes awaits.
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