Today the boys were up and out the door early to get the bus down to Bourg d'Osains where they were picking up their hire bikes. They were then to ride back up the mountain.
Jude and I had a slow start to the day with a leisurely breakfast overlooking our magnificent mountains . As the sun moved the view changed and this could have taken our attention for the whole day.
We set out to explore the village. Sophie, our hotel receptionist, bar tender and general font of knowledge, set us off in the right direction. We walked up the hill, watching out for the numerous cyclists climbing the last stage. There were a lot of them. Our first shop was the Tour de France store where we bought ourselves caps to set us into the spirit of the event.
As we came out Mike sent a text to say they were almost finished. We hurried back down the hill and got to the hotel to see them ride in. They looked a little weary, apparently it is quite difficult! We took some photos and then they continued up to the top. We walked back up and took more photos.
They headed back to the hotel for showers and we went back to exploring the village. There are a lot of sportswear and tourist type shops, along with some nice produce in the boulangerie, the fromagerie and the patisserie. We will be back to them.
The boys called again to say that their key cards for the hotel were not working so were coming back to get ours . They were disturbing our rhythm a little! After meeting them we finished wandering and found a restaurant for lunch, We had a drink while we waited for them to join us. We had a rose cider, which was sweet, but nice. It was served in a little ceramic jug with cups that looked like tea cups. Lunch was good (savoury crepes), but mostly it was fantastic sitting at the top of the ride watching more and more cyclists come in. There were hundreds throughout the day. There was music playing and a really great atmosphere.
Jude and I went back to the patisserie and bought some dessert, the boys bought their achievement t-shirts and we all went back to the hotel to settle in to the chill lounge to watch the tour on TV. It was a good chance to relax for a while. The hotel has a great lounge with funky furniture and lots of different seating areas. We then had coffee and our gorgeous pastries and watched another storm come in. We tried to do a FaceTime call with our girls who are currently traveling in Rome but WiFi connections were not strong enough and after a small sound bite of Larissa, we are back to messaging .
Sophie gave us a recommendation for dinner at Cremaillere. When we walked out it was raining and thunder was rumbling around us. The clouds were low in the sky, almost hiding the mountains.
Dinner was nice. The restaurant was tiny. We were seated down very steep stairs in a cavernous room. It had great ambiance. I ordered a "typical mountain dish", which was a potato gratin with masses of cheese, then topped off with a round of the local raclette cheese. It was tasty but way too much for me. We passed on dessert and made our way home.
The clouds were even lower when we came home. There was still a light rain, the mountains had disappeared and the streets were all misty. Quite beautiful.
An early night before big hikes and rides tomorrow.

9,040 steps
6.2 kms
I don't think I earned those pastries, although there only hills here!