Seen at Le Tour de France 09

1. Generously built woman jumping up and down along the side of a road barely wearing a bikini. A small bikini. lol :)

2. People wearing various furry costumes: gorilla, pink rabbit, yellow & red something or other & chickens.

3. Fans in Barcelona waving bits of yellow paper all along the route in their region.

4. Inflatable kangaroos & flamingos wearing straw hats & sunglasses. Also small stuffed Camargue bulls.

5. Male fan wearing a knight's costume & waving a sword & shield.

6. Group of fans wearing green shorts & neon yellow wigs running alongside the cyclists & cheering.

7. Cowboy in full "old west" riding outfit, including lariat & hat, riding a western saddle & holding in his stirrup a huge flag streaming behind him.

8. Man, why is is almost always a man??? wearing a red spandex outfit-not AT ALL flattering- with a purple cape & yellow wig.

9. "The Devil", an older man with mostly white hair who wears a red and black outfit & carries a trident. This man is a tradition & has been seen at every TDF for years and years.

10. A European version of what my husband & I call 'drunken bubba syndrome', bubba being Southern American slang, click here for in depth explanation. A fat, shirtless, tanned man wearing shorts hanging off of his genitalia & exposing his butt cheeks holding a canned beverage and jumping up & down in the grass so vigorously I was afraid I was about to see all of his equipment.

11. Always amazes me how much some people can pack into tiny cars: tents, folding tables, folding chairs, tarpaulins, costume paraphenalia, flags, beverages.

12. Speaking of tents, some of my favorite tv shots are of the mini tent villages that spring up in the smallest verges along the roads. Adorable colorful tents sprout like bright mushrooms & disappear just as soon as the Tour goes by.

13. Living near & regularly traveling along one of the busiest interstate highways in the US, I thought that mostly Americans and Canadians were obsessed with recreational vehicles (RVs), aka camper vans or caravans. Images & terms found here, if you're unsure what I'm nattering on about. I'm completely out of the loop though, because apparently Europeans love them too. Complete with satellite tv dishes. LOL :) However, there are hoards of them along the TDF route.