As someone immune to competitive sports, the result of yesterday’s apparently thrilling stage of the Tour de France was rather lost on me. However, the carnival atmosphere created by thousands of visitors lining the route was a fantastic experience.

The streets were full of cycling enthusiasts, bedecked in their national flags and/or team colours. It seemed the entire population of Luxembourg had descended on Alpe d’Huez, creating a new national capital in the chalets opposite the ‘O’Bar.

The leading riders approached, their proximity announced by the blaring French TV commentary coming from new-Luxembourg across the road. Within seconds it was over.

The eventual winner and the riders who placed second and third, were followed by a stream of spare bicycles mounted on cars and photo-journalists on bikes.

I contented myself with hanging off the wall of the ‘O’Bar terrace, camera in one hand, weight on one foot. And despite the passing of this world class event through our small town, I found myself more attracted to photographing the reality of the two days, the impact on our lives.

So here follow some shots of the excited smiles, nose-to-tail caravans and fully-packed car parks in Alpe d’Huez this Thursday and Friday. For more, please visit take a look at the Destination Oisans Flickr page and keep up to date with the enhanced shots via Istagram, username “vixie2alpes”.

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