Le Tour de Kent

I went to see the Tour de France yesterday. It was absolutely fantastic. It started at Greenwich and then wound its way through Kent to finish at Canterbury. And as part of the route it came very close to us which meant we had a leisurely Sunday morning and then drove up to Kings Hill and then walked the last mile down the road to Mereworth. There were SO many people! The road was closed and it was gorgeous sunshine so we sat on the kerb along with half the population of Kent to join in all the fun. Going through the route were loads of foreign vans and cars and motorbikes, all part of the 5000+ entourage who accompany the Tour. They were fantastic and drove through beeping and playing music, throwing out freebies and waving their arms off at everyone. It was a brilliant atmosphere and on such a sunny day it had a carnival feeling to it all.

It got more and more exciting as the racers got closer. The cars kept coming through and then the Press and the police who waved and set off their sirens at the crowd plus French Gendarmes on their motorbikes complete with knee-high leather boots! It seemed to take ages for the race to get near and the excitement grew and grew. Then motorbikes with their lights on arrived and some cars with flashy lights on top and each time another came around the corner the crowd tensed and rustled wondering if this was really it now. Next we heard a noise in the sky and could see the helicopter filming the race which meant that it was almost time. Then suddenly a whole mass of cars and motorbikes emerged around the corner and there they were - THE LEADING PACK HAD ARRIVED!!!

Everyone went mad with a flurry of photo taking, waving and shouting. Then as quickly as they appeared they whooshed past and on down the route and out of sight. However the best was still to come, the leaders had a 5 minute lead so we all waited patiently, excitedly talking about the leaders and what we had just seen and then a short time later another burst of vehicles arrived followed by the Pelaton. What a mass of bikes! It was a moving, shining shoal of multi-coloured, bike riding, sun-glassed, Lycra on brown-muscled flesh – Oh la la! Fantastique!

I yelled my head off at them shouting “Allez, Allez, Allez!” as they streamed by. And then that was it – the last of the surrounding pack of motorcycles and cars came through and all that was left were the now quietly chattering, happy crowd. It was absolutely fantastic – a brilliant experience to actually see the Tour live but also to share that experience with a whole mass of my local Kentish neighbours. It really was a Grand Day Out.