Tuesday July 13-St Leonard de Noblat to Gueret...

Our accommodations in Montelang near St Moreil are wonderful! It is operated by Noud + his wife-small B+B in an enchanted forest. No phones, no traffic, no pollution- just beautiful country roads. The food (bread of course)is tres bien! We arrived at the start in St Leonard early to see the riders sign in and to catch the entire caravan (pre race parade a la disney-esque). We picked up lots of free goodies + bartered for others. Our yellow shirts, hats + Postal flags drew much attention from the photographers- especially the girls who were perched up on a wall with prime spot.

St Leonard is the home to Raymond Poulidor who shares the same fame as Jan Ullrich for coming in second 5 years in a row to Anquetil in the 60's. We were a few feet away from Bernard Hinault as they were getting ready to leave. We met alot of Americans who were doing the same thing as us- cheering on Lance-some from Austin, Atlanta.

After the start we jumped in the car + stopped by our hotel. Nord gave us an escorted ride through the back country roads to get to the main road to the finish in Guret. We walked about 4 miles to the actual finish + podium. We saw Phil Liggett from OLN and got alot of photos + video. Robby McEwen is in the Green Jersey again + the Posties are looking good. We are staying in Montelang for one more night and must leave for dinner now. We are off to St Flour in the AM to see the finish. More to come when we can find another Cyber Cafe...