Today's Tour de France route

The place where we will set up to watch the Tour de France ride by today is about 10 miles south of Saint-Aignan, between the villages called Orbigny and Nouans-les-Fontaines. The caravane of support and publicity vehicles is supposed to drive past our vantage point between 14:00 and 14:30 French time (minus six hours gives you EDT, minus seven for CDT, etc., in the U.S.).

This field is near the place where we'll set up our chairs
this afternoon to watch the Tour fly by.

The peloton, or pack of cyclists, should come through between 15:30 and 16:00, again, Paris time. All the activity for us, then, will be between 7:00 and 11:00 a.m. if you live on the U.S. East Coast or in the Midwest. Or earlier in California. Is the Tour broadcast daily on some TV channel you get back there? If so, the aerial views will be spectacular.

The Tour doesn't go through Chenonceaux, so I thought
I'd give you a picture or two of that famous château here.

There's an old, privately owned château near where we will be sitting this afternoon. It's the Château de l'Estang, and I assume the helicopters will fly over it and images will be shown on TV. Our friends' house might even get into the coverage. Unless it rains, of course. The forecast is for widely scattered showers. Other places you'll see from above are Amboise and Montrichard, for example, in the hour or two before the Tour gets to us.

People in a rowboat at Chenonceau castle

We'll be recording the French TV coverage on our Tivo-type recorder all afternoon. I'll be able to capture some images from that coverage and I'll post them over the next few days if it all comes off according to plan — and it doesn't rain. Editing and cutting the video should keep me busy over weekend, and that's good because we are expecting — hold your breath — rain!

Greek-style chicken wings, ready for the oven

Meanwhile, I'm getting ready to put the Greek-style chicken wings in the oven. They've been marinating overnight in lemon juice and olive oil, with fresh thyme, rosemary, and oregano from the garden, along with some garlic and shallots. They'll cook on a baking sheet in the oven for 30 to 45 minutes this morning, before we pack up the car and head out. Callie's going with us.