TdF Paris Tips

mroli

Last night, the wife suggested that for our wedding anniversary (22nd), we might like to go to Paris and see the last stage and (fingers crossed) a historic first ever British win (and a 4th straight Cav win?).

I have just bought Eurostar tickets to Lille, TGV tickets from Lille to Paris. It'll be the first time our daughter (10 months old) has been out of the UK. God I'm excited.

I have a feeling this is going to be a VERY long week....

If anyone has any tips on where to go/best places to view etc, I'm all ears.

Lichtblick

Eurostar goes straight through to Paris, no need to change trains in Lille.

You're taking a 10-month-old to the crazy mayhem which will be Paris next Sunday? :shock: Blimey mate, you're a braver man than me. All I can suggest is that you avoid the Champs-Élysées completely or if you really insist, get there hours and hours early and find a group of Brits.

islwyn

Watch out for noise levels.

You'll have a lot of fun!!

mroli

For some reason the Eurostar to Paris was about twice as expensive as the train to Lille, which is why we're stopping. We're going to ditch our overnight bags there (and the hotel is cheaper) and head onto Paris. Means we have a day in Lille afterwards.

Islwyn - good tip on noise levels, we will take earphones for the little one. Presuming that there will be "spaces" on the circuit in places and we can get away from it if we need to - but the daughter is going to have to get used to watching bike races....! She's pretty happy in a backpack and we've got a small buggy as an emergency if she needs to crash out.

pottssteve

mroli wrote:

For some reason the Eurostar to Paris was about twice as expensive as the train to Lille, which is why we're stopping. We're going to ditch our overnight bags there (and the hotel is cheaper) and head onto Paris. Means we have a day in Lille afterwards.

Islwyn - good tip on noise levels, we will take earphones for the little one. Presuming that there will be "spaces" on the circuit in places and we can get away from it if we need to - but the daughter is going to have to get used to watching bike races....! She's pretty happy in a backpack and we've got a small buggy as an emergency if she needs to crash out.

I was there last year - there are not many spaces!
A backpack is much better than a buggy/pram - it's very busy and narrow in places due to the barriers. I saw several flustered parents having to carry buggies.
I would also avoid the Champs Elysees - it's chaos for hours before the riders arrive. I stood on the Rue de Rivoli last year, near Rue Saint Roch and that was quite a good spot - they are going a little slower after the corner and the crowd was only 4 deep!
My tips are:
1. Find somewhere shady - it gets very hot if the sun's shining. Rivoli on the side of the Tuileries Gardens is good as the afternoon sun will be behind you and it's shaded by the trees.
2. There is a toilet near the ferris wheel in the Tuileries Gardens. Take change.
3. Take food and something to occupy you.
4. If you've got space a portable seat is good to take - you have to be there hours early to get a decent spot at the barriers.

Enjoy!

Steve

mroli

Steve - that's brilliant thank you.

Rivoli sounds like a great place to watch things, I don't think I'm as well planned as I could be (we're doing this very much on the spur of the moment!) and these sort of tips are incredibly helpful. 4 deep sounds eminently manageable! I think my idea of there being "spaces" on the circuit was a little naive - I didn't think so necessarily on the champs d'elysees, but I did think beforehand, thanks for putting me right - will be more prepared for the scrum now.

Any more tips/hints gratefully received.

mr_poll

If you have the 10 month old in tow then I echo what the others have said about avoiding the Champs as you will either see nothing or have to get their early to get a space and then have hours to keep a baby amused/protect them for the inevitable crush and crowds when the race arrives.

If you (or anyone else reading this) are willing and able to run the gauntlet of hours by the Champs then there is a guy/fan from British Cycling that has organised a sports bar for the final TT on the Saturday and then last year he created a Brit/Team Sky corner in a superb place on the Champs which meant some good banter to pass the hours and we all met loads of the pro's.

If you PM me I can send you all the details or a Facebook invite if you are on that site. Whatever you do enjoy it, still my fingers crossed we get to be there on a historic day.

pottssteve

mroli wrote:

Steve - that's brilliant thank you.

Rivoli sounds like a great place to watch things, I don't think I'm as well planned as I could be (we're doing this very much on the spur of the moment!) and these sort of tips are incredibly helpful. 4 deep sounds eminently manageable! I think my idea of there being "spaces" on the circuit was a little naive - I didn't think so necessarily on the champs d'elysees, but I did think beforehand, thanks for putting me right - will be more prepared for the scrum now.

Any more tips/hints gratefully received.

You are most welcome. It was something I'm glad I did but I'm not sure if I would do it again, to be honest. It really is a scrum and you get a much better view of the action on TV (without the atmosphere, of course). I assumed Cav had won last year but didn't know until I got back to my hotel.

A couple of other tips I though of:
1. If you eat McDonalds the nearest one is close by on Rue de l'Echelle. It also has toilets (not sure about baby change). However, it will be rammed, as will the Starbucks next door. Therefore...
2. Take your own food.
3. Even though the route is very busy, once you get a couple of streets away it's pretty normal. Therefore, if you have free hands and can carry it a fold up buggy would be useful there.

Regards,
Steve

mroli

Mr Poll - thanks PM'd.

Steve - thanks again. Did you use the Metro to get around - or was that a nightmare too?

pottssteve

No worries. I walked back to the hotel but the wife used the metro to escape from the Champs Elysée (a couple of hours before the finish as she wasn't interested in staying) and said it was fine.

Steve

philw80

Hi all

Could I be cheeky and ask anyone with any more info to PM me also - we are heading over on Thursday, watching the TT and then into Paris (TDF virgins!) - any info like mr_poll was offering my PM would be gratefully received!

Cheers

Phil

mroli

Guys - brilliant stuff. Couple of final questions - are there any big screens up around the place? Also, do people tend to hang about after the race (ie a scrum all night long) or do they disperse fairly quickly?

mroli

Just a quick note to thank all the people who let me have their tips and recs for this.

We were delayed on the Eurostar (and subsequently on the Lille TGV) and didn't get to Paris until about 2.30. We were then stuck on the Metro when someone had an incident on the train (hope they're ok), so we headed for the Rue de Rivoli as rec on here.

What a tip that was. Basically, we were on that square where the big golden horse statue is (place de concordes?) right on the big left hand corner o/s Norweigan corner. We found a cafe in the shade and sat down and every time they went past, one of us went to watch them, leaving the other looking after the little girl. Never got "right" to the front, but mostly one or two back (although it was packed). Atmosphere was brilliant, chatted to loads of people including mad Danes who were in cafe too. TV in cafe so we "kind" of got to see the finish. Beers/ice cream and coffee and seats in the shade.

At the end of the race, we strolled up to the Champ d'elysees and saw the victory parade. Brilliant. Little girl loved it and all the people - she was watching them rather than the race!

Met up with a friend later on who lives in Paris, then train back to Lille and day pottering in Lille (which is really nice) in the sun on Mon.

Thank you everyone for your tips - looking forward to next year already!