Hosting A Tour De France "Pique-nique"

As millions of cycling fans around the world are celebrating the start of the their three-week long Superbowl, why not join them? Here a few simple tips to host your own Tour de France pique-nique. Picnic is the appropriate theme since most spectators attending the actual race are on foot, bicycles, or watching out of car campers. Think déjeuner sur l'herbe, translation: lunch on the grass.

How to Watch
Although preferable, you do not need to be in France to enjoy the Tour. With HD coverage now in the U.S., it is almost like being there. Check the Tour de France TV coverage schedule on NBC Sports in your area.

Le Menu
Even though professional cyclists eat like birds, fortunately, the same strict regimens do not apply to us spectators! The French have mastered the art of delicious deconstructed picnic fare. Here are some essentials:

• Saucisse Sèche (French dry cured sausage; or a favorite dry salami)
• Fromage (cheese; we love Camembert (cow's milk) or Crottin de Chèvre (goat's milk)
• Pain (bread; try a crusty baguette)

The key here is that all three can be prepared anywhere with a pocket knife. Thankfully, the French share our American love of condiments and snacks and often add tasty Dijon mustard, cornichons (French for "gherkin," crisp, tart pickles made from tiny gherkin cucumbers), potato chips (les chips), and roasted or spiced peanuts (les cacahuètes).

Slice the baguette lengthwise, add generous portions of sliced dry salami and cheese, garnish with Dijon mustard and cornichons, grab a handful of potato chips, and mangez!

It's No Surprise
Every year the official Tour de France caravan of sponsor company parade floats precedes the racers and travels along the route through the villages tossing product samples to the waiting spectators. More often than not, these products include dry cured sausage, cheese, brioche breads, candies, and bottles of water - a complete picnic meal courtesy of the Tour organizers.

La Buvette (Refreshments)
Along the country roads of France, you will often see these worn hand-painted signs Buvette - 500 M meaning Refreshments-Snack Bar Coming Up, a welcome sight after a long day of car or bike touring. Unlike road side snack bars in the States, what makes the buvette experience unique is their serving of juice-glass size tastes of vin rouge, blanc, rosé or bière pression (draft beer).

In preparing beverages for your guests, we recommend serving a bottle of chilled French rosé wine, the colder the better, or small bottles of French or Belgian beers (note that the small size bottles fit well in backpacks, paniers or coolers with wheels). As for the French rosé wines, look for Côtes du Rhône, Côtes du Ventoux, and Côtes de Provençe.

Le Dessert
When it comes to picnic desserts in France, the sweetest things come in small packages. The French keep it simple with fresh fruit (apricots, strawberries, cherries) and butter cookies with fruit or chocolate (look for the LU brand in your local market).

La Décoration
Add in a little Tour ambience with some déco:

• Picnic worthy paper plates, cups, utensils.
• Traditional colors include yellow, green, white, or red/white polka dots, the colors of the race leaders' classification jerseys
• Flags of your favorite riders' countries
• Cowbells (if you really want to get into the spirit and make some noise)

Shopping List
You can pick up most ingredients mentioned here at your local market. Depending on where you live, Trader Joe's typically has everything you need, including the difficult to find true French dry cured sausage, cornichons, and rosé wines. If you have the time, we recommend visiting your local cheese shop or European deli to do some exploring and tasting on your own.

Helpful Links

New to watching the Tour de France? Check out VeloNews Tour de France 101
Classification Jerseys: What do they mean?
The Official Site of the Tour de France 2011

Allons pique-niquer! (Let's start the picnic!)

Have other French picnic tips to share? We would love to hear from you.