Day 1 - Saturday July 15 - Welcome to the Alps!

Our 2005 Tour of France adventure begins at the Grenoble train station (la gare) at approximately 1:00PM. We'll collect you here for the drive to the mystical Alpe d’Huez, our base for the next 4 nights. Upon arrival at our hotel, Les Gentianes, we'll take a couple of hours to check into our rooms and assemble our bikes, with a EUROPEDS mechanic and bike stands on hand. Once we're settled in, we'll take a spin around town and familiarize ourselves with Alpe d’Huez and its surroundings. Before dinner we'll have an orientation meeting and welcome drink before walking to a restaurant in town for our first taste of this hearty alpine cuisine.

Day 2 - Sunday July 16 - La Berarde for Lunch

After our petit dejeuner of croissants and coffee we’ll head out of Les Gentianes and point our bikes downhill for at least the first 15 minutes of today’s ride. Once at the bottom of Alpe d’Huez, we’ll head east for a short while before turning off of the main road and riding up one our favorite alpine valley’s in France. We’ll head for our lunch stop in La Berarde, and you’ll be treated to one of the best 55 mile rides you’ve ever ridden. We’ll eat in a great little restaurant at the farthest point, then head back to Bourg D’Oisans to shop for Tour of France trinkets before conquering l’Alpe d’Huez at the end of the day. Dinner tonight will be “on your own” in any one of the many local restaurants. Your EUROPEDS guides will be happy to offer several recommendations.

Day 3 – Monday July 17 – Col de la Sarenne

Day 4 - Tuesday July 18 - TDF Stage 15, Gap to Alpe d’Huez

Today is sure to be an incredible day in the Tour of France. We have the seats in the house! Our unique location will allow us to experience a stage finish like no other. Today we’ll wait center stage for the greatest show on earth to come to us. After breakfast you may want to walk down the Alpe and pick out a perfect spot on the switchbacks below. At lunchtime, your Europeds guides will have a picnic ready to keep you going on this long day. Experiencing the TDF up close and personal like this is as good as it gets in our books. Before long, the helicopters will be heard in the distance and the riders will be near. The frenzy atop the Alpe d’Huez as a tour finish approaches cannot be explained.

Day 5 - Wednesday July 19 - TDF Stage 16, Bourg d’Oisans to La Toussuire - Afternoon transfer to Annecy

The excitement will continue again today as we are up again very early for breakfast before our descent into Bourg d’Oisans below. This TDF "Start" or "Depart" as it is known in France will give us an extremely up-close view of the riders as they go through the signing in process and then line up to begin the day's ride. Bourg d’Oisans, normally a very quite non descript alpine village, will become the center of the cycling universe as thousands of fans circle for a glimpse of their favorite stars. We’ll arrive early to get a good viewing spot and we’ll stay until the riders have departed. steeped in TDF history, will become the center of the cycling world. Have your cameras and pens ready; there is no better chance for photos and autographs. We'llne joint he thousands of other fans this morning and sneak one last look at the teams and riders before they leave for today's stage. Once the riders have left, we’ll have lunch in town and wait for the roads to clear. We’ll make our trek north to Annecy in the early afternoon. We should arrive with plenty of time to explore the ancient street of Annecy in the late afternoon. Dinner tonight will together at a restaurant in town.

Day 6 - Thursday July 20 - TDF Stage 17, St. Jean de Maurienne to Morzine

After breakfast, we’ll pedal directly from our hotel and intersect the peloton towards the end of a serious climbing day. We’ll head east from Annecy and aim to meet the riders as they summit the Col de la Colombiere at almost 5000 feet. We’ll set up here with pre-made picnics and wait for the riders to come. Once all of the riders have passed, we’ll ride back down to La Clusaz where we’ll meet the van for our transfer people and bikes back to Annecy.

Day 7 - Friday July 21 - TDF Stage 18 ,Morzine to Macon

After breakfast we’ll pedal from our hotel again and aim to intersect the tour riders at midday. We’ll experience this different territory of Haute Savoie during a ride that takes us through ancient farming villages and incredible landscapes. We’ll picnic along today’s tour route and wait for the caravan of tour sponsors, that signals the pending arrival of the riders. Seeing the Tour caravan in person is hard to explain, but it is without a doubt one of the most exciting aspects of watching the TDF live in person. Once the last of the TDF riders has come through, we’ll load up bikes and people into the vans and make our way back to Annecy. Mileage for the day is about 60, with some hills. Tonight’s farewell dinner will be together at a restaurant in Annecy’s “Old Town”. We’ll eat, drink and be merry knowing that we’ve just seen 4 amazing stages of the greatest race on earth.

Day 8 - Sunday July 17 - Au Revoir to the Alps

After breakfast, we’ll shuttle guests the short distance to the Annecy train station where direct TGV trains to Paris are available.

Rendezvous in Grenoble: The city of Grenoble is reached from Paris in three hours by train. There are many departures to choose from throughout the day. At the time this itinerary was written, the exact schedules for trains form Paris to Grenoble in July 2006 were not available. When the summer schedules are released, we will choose a train from Paris on July 15th that arrives in Grenoble in the early afternoon. Please check back with us to confirm the exact time.

Final Day : On July 22, it is unlikely that you will be able to fly back to the west coast of the United States due to our distance from Paris. Most of the major airlines schedule their departures from Paris tot he U.S. west coast around 11:00AM to 12:00PM. If you wish to connect with an early flight from Paris on July 22, we suggest you arrange for a taxi to take you to the Annecy station in the early morning.

Bikes : Most guests on our TDF tours prefer to bring their own bicycles to ride. If you are not going to bring your own bike, and need to rent a bike from EUROPEDS, please let us know as soon as possible.

Bike Boxes : Storage of all bike travel cases will be handled by EUROPEDS and are included in the tour price.

Clothes/Attire : Bring the bike clothes you prefer, as well as some casual/semi dressy clothes for evenings. Generally, shorts are frowned upon at dinner in France. We do our best to respect the local customs.

Packing : Please pack lightly. One big bag per person is permitted. We have limited space and will be a mobile unit traveling together for much of this trip. Keeping the bags to a minimum will make our time in the shuttle vans more comfortable. Please see accompanying packing list for the truly necessary items.

Train/Airfare : We are very happy to consult with you regarding your travel to and around France before and after our Tour. You will need to contact a travel agent, or use the Internet to purchase your air tickets and train tickets. We highly recommend the use of an experienced travel agent. They may save you time and money.

Travel Insurance : Please purchase travel insurance. After booking your EUROPEDS tour, you will be sent a Travelex travel insurance brochure with registration card.

Of Special Note : Any train times listed in this itinerary are based on the best information available at the time of publication and are thus subject to change. Definitive schedules will become available as the trip’s start date nears. We suggest that you check with your travel agent approximately one month prior to your trip’s start date to purchase your train tickets and make any necessary reservations. EUROPEDS reserves the right to modify published routes due to any unforeseen circumstances. In the event that one or another hotel is unable to accept our reservation for a given date (rare that this may be), we assure you that EUROPEDS will endeavor to book another hotel of comparable class and charm.