Rest Day Tidbits

So, while the Tour de France is taking a rest day today, I'm able to post about some non-cycling things. (Of course, there will also be some cycling things here as well - I can't go entirely without. Consider yourself warned.)

• Rick Steves' son Andy is in Europe for his post-high-school-graduation travel experience without his parents. He's got a blog. It's pretty interesting reading, especially seeing sights I've seen before through the eyes of an eighteen-year-old male. (Which, if you've not guessed already, is a slightly different perspective than I'm used to.)
• I've reserved a bunch of guidebooks on Germany from my local library, so I can begin to peruse them as I slip my China guidebooks back onto the bookshelf. As far as I can tell, things are still technically "up in the air," but I'm getting used to the idea of a September trip to Germany rather than China. Now I just have to learn something about Germany.
• White House mouthpiece Scott McLellan spent his briefing today dodging all kinds of Karl Rove questions. I imagine he's tired now from all the ducking.
• Stage 10 of the Tour is on Tuesday, and the course profile looks like it'll make for an interesting day of viewing:
  
  Stage 10, from Grenoble to Courchevel - graphic from here
  
• It's Stage 11, though, that we're really looking forward to. It includes the mighty Col du Galibier, which was Chris' & my first live experience with Le Tour in 1999. We camped on the Col, and then waited in the alternating sun & rain for our first glimpse at Tour de France cyclists in action. Lance was in yellow, and went on to win that day. And despite all his achievements since 1999, that day - that stage - remains our favorite Lance Tour moment ever. It still gives us chills to think about it. *sigh* What? Oh, yes, sorry - lost in reverie for a moment there. Here's what this year's Stage 11 will look like on Wednesday:
  
  Stage 11, from Courchevel to Briancon - graphic from here
  
  I'll try to dig up some pictures from our 1999 trip to post here later. In the meantime, I'm counting the minutes until this infernal "Rest Day" is over... ;)