art and le tour de france

We've been watching a lot of the Tour de France in our house. I'm not the biggest sports fan out there, but this is one sporting event that I look forward to every year. In addition to the cycling, the scenery is amazing. 

I came across this Henri Matisse painting that reminds me so much of the beautiful scenes we've been enjoying while watching the Tour in Provence. Who wants to go to southern France?!

le tour de france - 100 years!

The Tour de France is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, and this year's 21 day cycling event is unlikely to disappoint! It kicked off today in Corsica and will wrap up in Paris on July 21st. One of my favorite travel memories was watching and cheering the cyclists in the final stage of the 2001 Tour. 

~image credit unknown~

dreaming of tuscany, part 3

It's the time of year when our television gets unusually high use, because it's Tour de France time. Last night while taking in the race I spotted red poppies along the road, like what I had enjoyed seeing in Tuscany recently. And just like that memories of Tuscany came flooding happily in my mind's eye.

red poppies of Tuscany 

meandering through an olive grove

the gorgeous view

Oh, happy memories!

viva le tour!

I'm a huge fan of the Tour de France. Actually I'm a quite a Francophile and I enjoy cycling, so it's really not surprising that this 3 week long bike race is my favorite sporting event. I fell in love with the Tour ten years ago when I was lucky enough to be in Paris on the race's final day. It was an amazing scene - I had my little American flag with me to cheer for the riders from the States. As I climbed and clung onto a lamp post in order to get a better view, I snapped a photo of a memory that will last a lifetime!  

Paris, 2001