2023-France: Day 9-Col d'Aspin-Stage 6 of the Tour de France

The weatherman predicted it would rain all day, so we had our rain jackets ready to go, but when I woke up and looked out the window from our room, here's what I saw!

From our room we can see the Col d'Aspin, and that's where we will spend most of our day, watching the 6th stage the Tour de France.

Last night we parked our car about two miles outside of town, along D918, which is the route up to the Col d'Aspin. The police close that road very early, so the only way we could get our chairs, table, and other gear up the climb was to leave it there last night.

This plan allowed us to have a relaxing breakfast at our hotel and leisurely browse through the market in Arreau,which just as it has done for the past 400 years, happens every Thursday. Market day always adds a festive element to every French town. Combine that with the Tour de France passing through this village of 800 and it brings a smile to everyone's face!

Even the window in the butcher shop was festive!

We left the hotel at 9:10 AM.

Directions to the Tour's route were unnecessary, just follow the crowd.

Like most of the French families attending the Tour, Thibaut Pinot is their favorite.

We reached our car at 10:08 AM and were relieved to see it was still untouched and not vandalized. So, we drove the additional 11 km to the summit of the Col d'Aspin in search of a perfect viewing spot, and we found it. One of the best that we've ever enjoyed since we began attending the Tour regularly in 2008. Yesterday I said Tour viewing could not get any better. Today it did.

The Caravan arrived on schedule, actually early, at 1:00 PM

This cute boy is jumping for joy in hopes of receiving some SWAG from the Caravan sponsors.

But when he didn't get the SWAG thrown out by the Orangina truck, he gave them the finger!

The first riders arrived at 2:44 PM.

Joni's favorite rider, Mark Cavendish.

The Lantern Rouge, aka the Sag Wagon, signifying the last riders, passed us at 2:58 pm.

We made it down the mountain with very little delay, arriving at our hotel at 4 pm. In keeping with tradition we watched the end of today's race in the bar at the hotel as we enjoyed cold drinks. Once the race ended we walked into town for some last minute shopping.

We thought this would be worth attending and actually planned to until we noticed the date!

Our last dinner at Hôtel d'Angleterre was one of their bests. After a tiring day of Tour watching, hiking, or cycling, having a wonderful restaurant in your hotel is such a treat. We were so lucky to discover the Hôtel d'Angleterre in 2008.