Tour de France 2003
I have always dreamed of going on a biking vacation, but last year this turned into reality when we booked to go on a vacation in France that followed the tour. This was one of the best vacations ever! The hills were as tough as they promised, the food was fantastic, and to top it off this is where I proposed to Meghan and she said "Yes."
The tour started with us flying into Paris and getting our bike boxes, and off to the hotel. There we unpacked, ran down to the Eifel Tower for a romantic proposal. After Paris we jumped on busses and went down to the Pyrenees. There we followed the tour all the way back to Paris. We took lots of photos so be sure to check them out.
Bike Style Tours
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We did a ton of research before choosing Bike Style Tours. There are so many companies offering a trip like this, but we were happy with our choice. The big factors influencing our decision were: |
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We can take our own bikes. Didn't want to ride on a anyone else's bicycle.
Good value for money. Some tours seemed to be really expensive, this one seems to have cut some costs and kept the package pretty affordable.
Smaller company. Looked at the big guys, but they seemed either to be a little expensive and less personal.
Since we couldn't do the whole tour we chose the "Pyrenees to Paris" tour so that we could experience the montains and the finish. The tour was fantastic! We enjoyed every minute of it. We highly recommend Bike Style Tours.
Photo Gallery of the Trip.
There are also photos from other members of the trip on Bike Style's web site.
There are also some other nice ones here.
The Route -- Pyrenees to Paris
The Pyrenees to Paris trip visited the final eight stages of the 2003 Centenary Tour and was 12 fantastic days and 11 nights starting in Paris on the 17th July and concluding again in Paris on the 28th of July, 2003. We saw all the Pyrenees stages starting with the stage from Toulouse to Plateau de Bonascre where the battle of the climbers will resume in earnest. After the Pyrenees the race will enter the domain of the sprinters again with a stage from Dax to Bordeaux. From Bordeaux we will head toward Nantes stopping along the way to take in the action of the day’s stage to St. Maixent-l'École. The final Time Trial will be held from Pornic to Nantes on the final Saturday. What I can't wait for is to see the Victor (Please let it be Lance) crowned on the Champs-Elysées on Sunday 27th July, 2003.
For the complete itinerary check Bike Style Tours-- Pyrenees to Paris website.