For three weeks, as the Tour de France riders did their thing, a team of Associated Press journalists who followed them valiantly ate and drank their way through the gastronomic offerings along the 3,540-kilometer (2,200-mile) route. From the start in Germany, through Belgium and Luxembourg, and around France they sampled the local beverages and dishes, sifting good from bad so you won’t have to.
”Taste of the Tour,” a daily sporting, cultural and gastronomic guide to Stages 1 to 20, recorded their findings.
Here, as the Tour wraps up Sunday with the final Stage 21 to Paris, is their ”best of” – the gems and must-try treats waiting to be eaten, drunk and discovered by anyone who follows in the 104th Tour’s footsteps:
PLAT DU TOUR: In many ways, it’s unfair to single out just one dining experience from the three-week gastronomic marathon also known as the Tour de France.