No, I have no idea how to spell that and don't care if it's wrong. Anyway, everyone knows it's going to drive me crazy and I will eventually have to check. And, of course, I did. The surprising thing is I got it right. Mostly. The French apparently always spell it as one word. It is a curse, after all.
Anyway, we managed to land without our heads exploding. We got our rental car (Pontiac G6 with carbon offsets) and managed to get to Sacramento without incident beyond hunger, lack of tissues, and persistent cloud cover and light rain. There was a slight gaff in the hotel directions, but we made it finally with little argument and got to the hotel to find the Garmin Chipotle team car in the valet spot. Apparently a few teams are staying here, but the desk clerk wasn't giving us any information we couldn't see with our own eyes. Very tight lipped and hush hush about it. There was a small conference room (well, is, I suppose it hasn't gone anywhere) off the main lobby and as staff came and went we could see a team in there having a meal. Garmin staff appeared to be getting some bikes and water bottles together for a training ride. Maybe we'll see some riders!
We have since seen a lot of Astana staff. I haven't recognized any riders but that can be hard when they're in street clothes--you'd be surprised, really!
We took a chilly walk through the wet streets of Sacramento, through Capitol Park, by the Capitol, and beyond. The park is very nice with several different war memorials--the Viet Nam memorial is particularly well-done. There is a trout pond sans trout, a bell from the U.S.S. California sans ship, and a replica of the Liberty Bell sans crack. There are rose trees grown from grafts from plants from souther battlefields of the Civil War. It's a beautiful park and I'm sure it's amazing on a nice spring or summer day.
We stopped off at the 4th Street Grille for a drink and an appetizer and had a good time talking with the bartender, Ken (I think). He shared his beautiful hard cover edition of a Tour de France retrospective that he had brought into the bar on the off chance someone of significance happened in who might be worthy of autographing his treasured tome. I told him he should hang out at our hotel if he wants to see anyone.
From the grill we walked down to Old Sacramento and had a really nice dinner at the Rio City Cafe. We briefly walked around old town after dinner but it was simply too cold and wet. Besides, it was getting dark and wet and we had fifteen blocks to walk in a strange city, at night. We headed back. I have to admit, we were almost done in and it wasn't even 6:00 p.m. back home!
We went to the room and ditched our jackets and then went down to the hotel bar for a drink and to scope out people who came in. There were team staff about but no one we recognized by name or anything. I had a nice Belgian beer and Joan had a Bailey's and coffee to warm her bones. I also ordered the 3 Fires Habanero Sorbet. It was good! It was a citrus (heavy on the lemon) sorbet with tri-colored habanero pieces. It had a really nice, slow burn that kicked up a few notches after the last bite disappeared. Isn't that how chiles always work?
Anyway, we're back in the room and sufficiently doped up. Racing doesn't start to 1:00 or 1:30, so we're not setting our alarms. As long as we're up before our free breakfast disappears I think we'll call it a good night.
