filtered out of a wide spectrum of America’s diverse literary community.
Riding a bicycle around France during July sounds like an idyllic way to spend a few weeks during the summer. Visiting different regions of the country while on a leisurely ride through vineyards and sunflower fields seems like a fun pastime in which all French gentlemen should aspire to partake at least once during their lifetime. Just to add a little adventure and interest to the two-wheeled vacation, there would be a small prize for the first man to return to Paris. …. This was the ill-informed overall impression of the Tour de France that the author had gained during five years of studying French at high school on the other side of the world.
FIFA World Cup vs Le Tour de France
With only 3 days before the Grand Depart of the 101st Tour de France, it seems that the attention of French public is focused on Brazil instead of Yorkshire. The imagination of the country has been captured by the French national soccer team which plays against Germany on July 4th in a quarter-final of the FIFA World Cup. In the interest of balanced reporting your intrepid correspondent will plan to find a local restaurant or bar in Paris where he can watch "Les Bleus" take on their German rivals in a knockout battle. France has only ever won the title once, in 1998, but narrowly lost to Italy in 2006. On the other hand Germany has won the title 3 times, most recently in 1990.
The atmosphere among the patrons in the bar during the game is likely to be "animated" to say the least, and there is sure to be a very interesting cast of characters on hand. A win by France would create an opportunity for viewing the next match on July 8th in a different part of France, which would coincide with the first stage of Le Tour on French soil in 2014. One can only imagine the strain placed on sports fans in France on that day, where they will barely have time to squeeze in dinner between watching the closing stretches of Le Tour Stage 4 in Lille before they will be obliged to tune in to Les Bleus playing a semi-final match in Brazil. One can only hope that suitable means of stress relief will be readily available for all concerned, whether chilled or at room temperature.
