Bienvenue et Hon Hon Hon

It is, bien sur, that temps de la year encore.

The time of lycra-donning, cheese-eating, surrendering and 'hon hon hon'-ing.

LE TOUR TIME!

It's been long (too long) since this festival of music, colour and cycling last hit our soapboxes. And so, it was with irrepressible frothing at the mouth that Jesse and I partook of the first leg yesterday.

The first leg is difficult to recap in one small post. But it started with cycling. It ended with cycling. And I believe there was a bit of cycling in the middle too.

There was also eating from little food baggies (some of which were thrown into other cyclists' spokes causing all worlds of pain and angst). But more importantly, there was Gabriel and his first dish de le tour.

Gabriel is, without doubt, my favourite segment in the daily tour show. Such combinations of fresh seafood, seasonal vegetables and lard, you could never dream of beyond the belle French borders. And don't forget Christian. No gastronomic wonder would be complete without Christian's expert advice vis a vis alcoholic accompaniments. "But what fair dish shall delight our petite tastebuds tonight?" I hear you rumble with your outrrrageous guttural 'r's. Well, tonight we are promised pear tart with lashings of pear... and tart... and cheesy lard I daresay. So keep your stomach grumbling for that one.

The other thing that really piques my interest in le tour is the absolutely stunning countryside and, more strangely, the identical houses. Every one so far has been white with a grey roof. Weird. I realise the French are born with impeccable taste; however I can't help but feel that the Government may be involved in this structural pleasantry somehow. Eitherways, it is utterly beautiful.

Finally, I love all the pretty coloured cyclists with their chrome domes and 22nd Century sunglasses. I am especially infatuated with the pink-dotted King of the Mountain jersey, which is an essential in any Winter wardrobe.

And even more finally, I am also somewhat taken by the team names adopted in this year's tour. "Credit Agricole" - the farmer's bank. "Gerolsteiner" - derived from the large family of steins called Gerol. "Barloworld" - for suits on the go. And "Euskaltel-Euskadi" - which really doesn't mean anything in any language, but is often followed with much hooting and good times aplenty.

And yes, the Euskaltel-Euskadi team is a crowd favourite, 'cause you can never have too much 'good times aplenty'.