Not having time to go to watch the Tour de France passing through our area, we set the TV recorder to watch it later. Imagine our dismay when ITV4 decided that descending the hill into Caylus (one of the most exciting parts of the stage) and the traverse of St Antonin, where many of our friends had gathered, were the ideal moments to have a 2 minute advertising break! So we saw none of you!
At least the French TV managed to show the many beautiful villages and chateaux of the area so viewers at home were reminded of just how lovely it is here.
The chairman of the St Antonin chess club and his partner stole the scene by taking their bikes and a chess board to an apparently inaccessible outcrop above the gorge d'Aveyron to play out a quick game of chess. The TV director was so impressed that he showed the helicopter shot twice.
Just to annoy us further the recording unaccountably ended 6 minutes from end of the stage, so we missed Mark Cavendish's 29th stage win, third this year, putting him second in the all-time list of stage winners, headed only by legendary Belgian Eddie Merckx.
comments to taglines82@gmail.com
