On the Road ... Tour de France

RODOUER, France -- Two years ago, Fabrice Rouille and Angelina Nardin pedaled their tandem in Liege, Belgium, for a weekend. They were hosted by a couple who responded to a message the traveling cyclists posted on the internet seeking accommodations.

Fast-forward to this year's Tour de France. Rouille, 30, and Nardin, 27, now the parents of a 2 1/2-month old son, decided to return the gesture.

They posted on CyclingNews.com an offer to host as many as four people from the Tour entourage for a night or two during stages 7 and 8. I was the first person who responded and I arrived at their home at about 10:30 p.m. last night, and in plenty of time for a home-cooked meal -- grilled pork, sausages and green peppers, boiled potatoes, a green salad, wine, juice and bottled water. And for dessert? Nardin made crepes at the dinner table and there was plenty of jam, sugr, honey and Nutella to use as filling. Rouille and Nardin had three other guests, and the six of us ate dinner drank wine and talked about the Tour de France and the wondrous ways of travel.

I slept on a narrow air mattress fitted with a topsheet and a blanket on the floor of a first floor office next to the bathroom.

Saturday morning, Rouille provided an escort through winding, country roads to the highway where the road split toward the direction of the start and stage finish. Rouille and his other guests were going to the start. I was going to the finish. I honked and waved goodbye to my host and just-met friends, whose company I enjoyed and who I will likely never see again.

--By James Raia

posted by FreeSanJose at 9:39 AM

On the Road ... Tour de France

Hospitable hosts

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