Flying the flag

A really good admin day today - after nearly a year we finally have an operative French bank account, paperwork all signed and sealed.
I then met up with one of my employers for a coffee and a catch up before heading off for more coffee with a company who want me to work for them next year.
After that I went for an acclimatisation walk in the Nant valley, which though cooler than the 37°C recorded lower down was still really hot for a boy from Cumbria.
As I drove back from my walk I watched a lunatic force his car between me and a cyclist coming towards me. I lost a wing mirror and the cyclist has some nasty road rash - the other car didn't stop. As I rushed back up the road with first aid kit to hand the choice of swearing let me know from afar that Paul was a scouser, I don't envy him getting in a bath or shower tonight. As with most cyclists he was mainly glad that (a) his bike was in one piece and (b) that he'd not been on the side of the road with the precipitous drop.

Driving around today there are flags everywhere. There's a real party vibe around the village - the Tour du France arrives in the area tomorrow and they climb the hills of St Gervais on Friday. Every available verge seems to have a motorhome in place, most flying flags or emblazoned with a riders name. I'm no cyclist but the spectacle and sense of occasion are positively infectious. As the village will be effectively closed on Friday I've made plans to go.

The flag in today's blip is one of many that fly over the Pont Diablo, this on the South side looking towards the Dome du Miage.