Le Tour, Tour de France – we enjoy watching these amazing athletes each year and marvel at their feats of endurance so, when we heard that the 2023 Grand Depart was going to be from Bilbao in Spain, we couldn’t resist the opportunity to be there! Back in April 2022, we booked our accommodation in San Sebastian, a town we had visited previously and loved the vibe of, and planned a week to break up our UK adventures.

Flying into Bordeaux we at once felt the European difference, finding boulangeries with the wonderful french breads we enjoy. I don’t know how they do it, but only the French can make such doughy, crusty, holey bread like this. Our rental car took us south to a stopover near Dax closer to the Spanish border and, we discovered, the start point for the 4th stage of the tour. Our little B&B out in the countryside took a bit of finding, as sometimes our maps app struggles with roads that are not roads – we could see our B&B, but could not get to it across a farmers land, so ended up retracing our route and circling back to the correct access. The room was comfortable and blissfully dark with the shutters down at night. No more waking with the sunrise at 4:30 am! It was supposed to be warmer weather than we got, so getting in the lovely pool wasn’t an option for Carolyn, but we did enjoy a soak in the spa, before a wonderfully tasty dinner out. French (and Spanish) prices for food and wine definitely eased some of our eating out budget blowouts of late. The next day, we set off towards Bilbao, deciding that finding a park and ride on the outskirts would be a safer option than trying to find parking in the melee of the Tour de France starting area. It was surprisingly easy to find a carpark, and the train into the centre of Bilbao dropped us at a perfect place to wander the streets and find the fan village. We were there in plenty of time to explore and then find where the start line would be. Carolyn had come prepared with her NZ flag, and despite there only being 2 kiwi riders this year, decided to drape it across her back anyway. We were just about to head to the start area when we were spotted by another kiwi family, well set up on the roadside further away than we planned to be – we got chatting about our common interests in the TdF and suddenly realised the riders had started, early! We were very thankful we had been distracted to chat here, as we would have missed the riders completely if we’d headed off to where we planned. We were now in a great spot to watch the riders on their neutralised start where its not serious and more of a parade – regardless, they still moved quickly past us.

This first very brief view of the start done, we drove back to San Sebastian to find our accommodation which would be our base for the next 3 nights. Booking so far in advance, I had chosen the property based on its proximity to the town (and price), but far enough away to be easy access and parking on-site. Little did we know, the tour route went past two minutes away from our location on day two and day three – what a win! And it was a lovely boutique hotel with another pool and outdoor area to enjoy. We were a 30 minute walk to the old town, but only 20 minutes from a good choice of restaurants and tapas bars. Out host made a number of suggestions for places to eat, and she was spot on for taste and authentic experiences. We wandered to the finish line for stage two the next morning, watching a number of paying cycle tour groups arriving, but only TrekTravel got to stand on the podium – if we had a spare US$7000 each, we too could have had that experience! We think the punters got their moneys worth though, doing an organised tour would be amazing and get you to see much more than we did.

There was a real buzz as people lined up along the roadside near our hotel up to two hours before the riders were due. Chris found a great spot in the shade and able to rest against a barrier – but we had to be firm that this was our spot as others came and tried to squeeze us in, no personal space issues evident! First came the caravan, a number of advertising floats throwing out freebies and merchandise to the onlookers – none came our way, then the team cars, then the motorbike, then more team cars until finally overhead we heard the media helicopters so we knew the riders were close. They were racing for the finish line, just over 2km away and it was a fast flash past of the top riders at the front. They came in waves of the top contenders, the support riders that had carried their top riders through, and then the hangers on. Definitely a different feel from the intensity of the front contenders to those who were just riding to finish. We certainly got the buzz of excitement from the crowds and watching these riders passing at pace, and also knowing we’d see them all again tomorrow going the other direction. One thing that really surprised us was the number of support vehicles that goes before, during and after the riders. If one were to count the official cars, the team cars, the motorcycles for officials and media, the police vehicles and motorbikes, the team buses, the freight vehicles they would surely add up to more than the number of riders. The infrastructure for this event is huge and we hate to think what the carbon footprint would be like.

We, ourselves, chose to walk back into the town the next day to wander the streets of the old town, buzzing with tourists and surprised at the sheer numbers at the beach. This beach is a beautiful sandy swathe and there were many people paddling along the shore and in the water. I dipped my toes into the sea, but decided that I’d wait until we eventually hit some warmer water for full immersion (may be in Raro next year at this rate!).

In the afternoon, we lined up again to watch the riders as they rode past in the opposite direction to the day before, this stage started about an hour away from us and headed over the French border for the rest of the Tour. Riders were seriously into their stride and raced past the waving and cheering crowds. We thought today there would be quieter crowds, but there was just as much enthusiasm as the previous day to witness these men working for their teams success.

Sadly, we packed up that evening, our very brief Spanish interlude was coming to an end – but not quite. We wanted to visit Pamplona, an hour away – one of the few cities we didn’t manage to visit on our last trip here. Driving through the mountain mists and rain, we found ourselves in another lovely town, wandering through old castles and fortifications for a couple of hours before heading back into France to the outskirts of Bordeaux.

I like to choose B&B’s that are not in the centre of large towns for ease of parking and quiet locations, they are often family run and more intimate service. We were based about 20 minutes out of the city centre, but easy to reach local wineries, restaurants and amenities we needed. Another swimming pool, this one seemed to me even colder than Spain – I did try and lasted about one minute before deciding that laying on the sun was a much better idea! We were able to explore the local area, driving around past vineyards and then a winery tour at a beautiful chateau.

Our last day involved catching the tram into the city centre and wandering the streets. We started with a winding climb up the 233 steps of the Beyland tower, giving us expansive views over the city. We discovered that the Tour de France stage 7 would end in the city centre the following day, and were able to wander the fan zone that had a bit more life than the Bilbao experience. We managed to pick up a few free souvenirs which was an unexpected bonus. We enjoyed some great food experiences in France and Spain, and will look forward to continental cuisine again later in the year.

We set off early on our last morning to avoid the potential of traffic disruption on our way to the airport and arrived in plenty of time to return our car. We had unknowingly sustained some minor damage to the front fender – a few scratches that set us back €180 plus and other €50 admin fee, the additional cost being almost as much as our total for the week rental. Not a great way to finish our experience. Checking in for our flight, the airport staff were having issues with the baggage belt – apparently the scales were not working correctly. We, at least, were at the front of the line, but it was getting to be a long line. Finally we got to board – after thinking it was a very full flight (seat choices were minimal, and Chris and I were on opposite sides of the aisle – me with a window seat and him on the aisle) we ended up having empty seats next to both of us! Then, the pilot says we are all boarded, but our luggage still had to be loaded so we sat for another hour for bag loading and then pilot negotiations for a new landing slot at Gatwick. It made for a long morning but we (and our luggage) made it back to England only 90 minutes late, ready for our next drive west….