Bonjour Beautiful Yorkshire

Hello Lovelies

yesterday saw the Tour de France's Grand Depart in Yorkshire.

I can't claim to know anything about this sport, but I tuned in mainly to see glimpses of my native county. 

Kate and William cut the ribbon at Harewood house outside Leeds............

and soon the riders were heading towards Ilkley. I just loved all  the aerial shots of the beautiful landscapes............

And the close ups of people below, this group waved from the cow of the cow and calf rocks as the commentator recommended the local pub..........brilliant..........

 I'm sorry about the reflections and quality of these images.

The helicopter camera also captured these waving  children in an digger bucket............

soon the riders were heading through Skipton................you know, of Yarndale fame..........

So many people lined the streets here, as they did throughout the route.......Yorkshire people have really taken this event to their heart.....and they are big hearted people.........look even the church has a yellow jersey............

and it's got a cycling sheep and a drystone wall on it...............

 Brilliant

it was a real treat to see familiar places from a different viewpoint.............

and I loved the French names for them..........here's Le chateau de Skipton......sounds so romantic.

Next the aerial shots were coming from Malham cove ............

and Kilnsey crag..........you can just see the riders in the  bottom right............

Of course there were lots of close ups of the race as well, travelling through the pretty Dales landscape.......

And various villages, where crowds cheered and waved................

 this is Hawes and you can see in Fiona's post HERE how they have gone to town decorating for le Tour

They have even created a bicycle on the hillside..............

and the steep climb out of the valley was a magnet for spectators.........I loved all the colour..........

 this is Buttertubs Pass...or Cote Du Buttertubs :0)

this image blew me away.......there's not a space on the super steep hillside to be seen.............

Apparently the first rider to the top gets extra points.........I liked that in this case the cyclist was also the oldest competitor..........

The effort to get to the top must be huge, and the nerve to speed down the other side must be huge too............

hang on, I'm getting distracted by the actual event :0)

Here's a pretty dales village I didn't catch the name of..............

And here's a wonderful shot of the landscape.......I'm so happy that the weather was kind............

Dales barns and stone walls.............

and another castle..............sorry, chateau............

and another massive hill,  conquered first  by that same veteran rider...........

in Leyburn people even watched from the church tower............

and the scenery was beginning to change..............

Masham looked wonderful in the afternoon sunlight............

 and the helicopter zoomed in on some brilliant artwork, painted in the market square by the local primary school.............

what a thrill for those children to see their work on the telly. 

leaving Masham, with it's bunting and double decker bus............

flying over Fountains Abbey..............

It really was a brilliant aerial tour of this part of Yorkshire.

There were also lots of pictures of the decorations individual home and buisnasses had put up....I LOVED this woolly bike.............

can you see the bears in yellow jersey's on the wheels.

The light in this image of Ripon cathedral was stunning.............

Nearing the end now, an image of lots of spectators watching a screen in Harrogate...........

I did find myself drawn into the race once more...........

such a shame the local boy took a nasty tumble............

I think he had a dislocated shoulder in this image, but he bravely peddled over the finish line.

I'll finish with this much happier sight of the king of the mountains Jens Voigt.........

He's 42, go the oldies :0)

And today I'll be watching even more closely as the tour is going through Haworth.....where I grew up.

Just hoping the rain stays away for them.

Jacquie x