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We got up late, no surprise after last night’s torture! We checked out of our hotel just as the Cofidis team truck crew was checking in. They were obviously staying here after the stage because it is not far from Bordeaux and much more pleasant. I will still never see the Cofidis name without remembering how they dropped Lance during his treatments. All the events in our lives make us the people we are though, some people just handle challenges differently.

We drove to the round-a-bout where the riders will make a 90-degree turn to head into Bordeaux. It was already crowding up, so we sat in the café and ate some breakfast/lunch then walked on down past the round-a-bout where the crowd thinned out. Neither of us wanted to be crowded after yesterday’s jam-packed finish. Angie spread out her cushion and went to sleep. A few French spectators smiled at our LAF sign and some tried to talk to me. It takes a few minutes before we usually get the point. If all else fails I raise my thumb, which is the French version for #1 and just say “Lance Champion.” It had rained a little earlier, but it was beautiful now. Angie woke up, looked around, then went back to sleep. Some French guys stopped by and laughed at her and made a snoring sound, another lady pretended she was going to kick her, but she kept sleeping. I woke her up so she could do her cheerleading routine for the caravan. A TV camera had positioned itself across the street so when it pans with the riders as they go by, hopefully they’ll get a shot of our sign.

It wasn’t long before the riders passed by. I held up our sign so Lance could see it, shot some pictures and Angie cheered. Those flat areas are awful quick compared to the mountains, and there is also a totally different group of people to watch. These spectators seem to come because the tour is passing through where they live, while the mountain fans are more hard core enthusiastic, even a little on the crazy side.

Since we couldn’t get in our Bordeaux hotel for the next day’s start, we decided to go on up the route and try for a place close to the feed zone area. We figured they would at least have to slow down a little to pick up their lunch bags! The riders have to do everything on their bikes without stopping; drink, eat and yes even go to the bathroom! They can burn thousands of calories per day so they have to eat while they ride to be able to keep moving.

We stopped in Cognac, as in where they make Cognac, and went to the office of tourism to see if we could get a room. The lady that helped us spoke English (yeah!) and had one room left at a B&B – she called ahead to reserve it for us and give us directions. It was great! The lady of the house was so sweet, and the house was very cool with a small canal in back and best of all for Angie, they had a dog! Things were going great—it was eight pm and we were headed into the Centerville of town to get dinner and we already had a room! It’s just one of those "make firm plans and stay flexible" things. Twice we’ve been unable to get in our room that we had reserved. The first time we slept in the car, but this time turned out much better!

We wandered around town and looked at the castle that was now a cognac factory, and then went on downtown. It just so happened that Cognac was having its Blues Festival called Blues Passion. The streets were closed (which had made it tough for us to find our B&B earlier) and several of the bars/restaurants had bands out front. There were loads of tables outside to enjoy the music, so we ordered dinner and drinks and enjoyed some Mississippi delta blues sung in French!

July 23 (Stage 16) / July 25 (Stage 18)