The Bretagne and Normandie tourist boards couldn't possibly have bought the wonderful coverage they got over the two stages of the Tour de France. The weather was fantastic for "our" stage and the next day the TV coverage couldn't get enough views of the Mont St. Michel in a sparkling sea.
The Tour de France's 20 stages are seen by around 10 million people each year. From the outside it always seems as if everyone wants to get close to the dramatic action; the reality of course is rather different ...
Two hours before the riders depart the Caravane gets going, this is the procession of uniquely French commerces advertising their products and services in imaginative, strange and frankly bizarre ways. The reason many people go to watch Le Tour is to get the free giveaways that are passed, thrown or hurled from the various elaborately modified vehicles in the caravane. I've seen families at the roadside chase all over the pavement for these freebies, collect their spoils into a shopping bag, jump into their cars and head off home before any cyclist is within 30km.
We do go for the cycling but on Tuesday we seemed to have got ourselves in a prime spot for the freebies - either that or our union flag was being used for target practice as several items landed directly on our chairs without us needing to pick up or catch them.
Here's our entire haul:
In no particular order it was:
- A Carrefour King of the Mountains cap
- 2 Skoda sunhats
- A copy of the paper Aujourd'hui (scary title: "Sarkozy revient")
- An ERDF beer bottle cooler
- A packet of Belin tomato and mozzarella snacks
- Festina wine gums
- A packet of madeleines
- Haribo sweets
- Le Journal de Mickey Mouse
- 2 copies of an Alcatel mobile phone promotion
- A "welcome to Yorkshire" wrist band (the 2014 tour starts in Yorkshire)
- A Moi, Moche et Méchant 2 facemask (it's a film ,,,)
- An Etap hotel inflatable cushion
- A postcard of the French cyclist Thomas Voeckler
- A promotion voucher for Courtepaille restaurants
- A pack of Kléber fridge magnets
- A copy of Ouest France in a matching bag with a matching flag
- A packet of mini dried sausages
- A clothes washing liquid sample
- A Cofidis keyring
- A Luxembourg keyring (no idea ......)
- A sovenir copy of L'Equipe
- 3 bottles of Vittel water
- A copy of Vittel's "Eau-ficial" newspaper
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