A Weekend in Yorkshire for the Grand Depart

I took a little break from blogging this weekend as we travelled up to Yorkshire to see the start of the Tour de France.  It was a long haul, taking us 5 hours or so to get up there, as traffic was very heavy.  We were staying at OH's sisters house in Silsden, West Yorkshire.  The tour was due to pass through there during Stage Two on Sunday.

On Saturday, OH cycled off to watch the 1st Stage (many roads were closed so cycling was the best option), whilst the Little Bird and I hung out with family members, watching the stage on TV.  Later, I decided to venture into the town centre, as I'd noticed lots of decorations had been put up all over the town.   Here's a few pictures.

Yellow was a definite theme.

There were yellow shop windows,

 

artistic shop windows,

 

 

 

yellow flowers in gardens and hanging baskets,

yellow balloons,

lots of knitted jumpers in the colours of the race leaders' jerseys,  (so cute)

 

even the bollards on the roadside were painted the colours of the jerseys.

 

 

There was lots of Tour themed bunting strung everywhere,

 

and lots of bikes painted and decorated in yellow,

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I particularly liked this rather amusing installation, which I was told found its way onto the Tour De France website.

Quite a few campsites had been set up on the edges of town, providing entertainment and food for visitors during their stay.

It was great that the whole town, and the county of Yorkshire generally, had really embraced the Tour and welcomed it with open arms.

On Sunday, we ventured down to the High Street to watch the race pass through.  There was a great atmosphere on the roadside and it wasn't so crowded that you couldn't see the racers pass by.  Everyone was excited, friendly and just having a good time.  Eventually the Tour came through.   They pass so quickly, if you blink you could almost miss it.  Little Bird managed to get me quite a good photo of the peloton passing through.  (She's a much better photographer than I am!)

Once the race had passed, it was back up to the house for a BBQ, before heading back to London for the 3rd and final stage in this country, which passed not far from where we live.  OH and I cycled up the road to watch it and then cycled back to see the finish on TV. 

It was a tiring weekend, but great fun, very memorable, and it was lovely to be able to soak up the party atmosphere everywhere.   Tomorrow the Tour starts from Le Touquet, one of our favourite haunts in France.  We won't be following it, unfortunately.