Camping chairs, bobs and butter hams were counting on the fingers of one hand at 8 o’clock. Then dozens at 10 am. At lunchtime, we can already talk about hundreds. This Sunday morning, rue Lepic (XVIIIth) woke up for its glory day, the first passage from the Tour de France on its cobblestones.
A year after the Olympic Games, the same cries sound. “Come on, we give everything!” Don’t let go! », We embark at 10 am on those who tried to the Montmartre hill before the passage of the runners planned at… 6.30pm.
There are those who brought out the thighs and the gear glasses, those who play it Parigot en Vélib ‘, those who are heckled because they cheat in electric. And those who put their children at the forefront of their cargo bike so that they will film the rise in the street.
A little rain, so what?
It is also time to prepare the signs, to redouble their imagination, and who knows, hoping that she will be on TV. Marker in hand, Nathan welcomes his cardboard “Put glitter in my Kévin life”, in the blink of an eye to Kévin Vauquelin, who, except disaster, will be the first French in the general classification of this tower in seventh place.
Throughout the street, the hundreds of spectators already present have meticulously chosen where to place themselves. As expected, the crossing between rue Lepic and that of the Abbesses is already well stocked, just like the elbow of rue Lepic. A few meters higher, the portable speakers are already spitting “in the eyes of Emilie” and the “I will survive” by Gloria Gaynor.
Behind everyone, traders are starting to prepare. Behind a mountain of cups, Vivien, managers of the restaurants “La Rughetta” and “The fine blades”, applies to writing “Go Alain Philippe” to the white marker on his slate. “If we are ready?” We will see if we have planned enough! But I feel that people are hot there. It’s nice to see, ”smiles the restaurateur.
“Last year, at 1 pm, I already had nothing to drink. It was crazy. So this time, I assured the blow, ”slips a colleague from the top of the street. In total, 24 beer barrels are ready to empty during the day. And it is not the small drops of rains announced in the north of Paris that will discourage the groves. “The Belgians, we know them. This is not what will stop them! »»
A few horn, horns and a concert of applause cover the usual noises of rue Lepic. “Wait, but it only spends the runners, we agree?” A family of German tourists is surprised here by chance. It remains to be seen if there are vocal cords in seven hours …