Burt's 2005 Visit to France

You won't see this in the U.S.A Our national emblem is the SUV?

I saw several Yankees hats but no Red Sox hats in France. Even though the Red Sox finally won one, he knows the Yankees are proven winners and the French are tired of being rightfully identified with losers.

In Tours, France here they are again.

A church in Tours that we visited as a group, I later went back the next morning and sat there for nearly an hour, very peaceful. Some places we were rushed through but that is the downside of a guided tour. Nothing is perfect.

The modest train station in Tours, France. Our hotel was a 1 minute walk away from it.

I was the only one in the tour that decided not to join the group on yet the 1,000,000th castle and wine tasting tour, as I walked around the city of Tours I noticed that something just might be going on.

Another clue was all these yellow flags. I did not think the French were showing their true colors today, so I knew it had to be something else

These signs were all over town. Ah ha, now I knew the "Tour de France" was coming on the 4th of July, the girls from Oklahoma did not think there was a July 4th in France, apparently they thought they went from the third to the fifth?.

As I walked near the finish line I met up with these Mormans. They were great to talk to. They were making sure no one drank coffee or smoked.

These cops were mad at me because I was waving the French national flag. I had a white pillow case on a pole.

Prior to the arrival of the racers all kinds of vendors were selling or tossing out their products to people who lined the finish line. Loud speakers were blaring announcements for hours in French. There was quite a party atmosphere, it was a happening.

I saw these racers coming in, I thought they were smaller than I imagined.

See all the spectators wearing the yellow hats? They were given away by a local bank. I tried to get one but the bank man identified me as American and said no yellow for me, red white and blue. Those colors don't run like yellow.

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