I won a T-shirt once. Compared to you guys I feel like Charlie Brown at Halloween when he keeps saying "I got a rock" trick or treating.

what great stories. If my tickets don't arrive in time (ha ha)...I will give them to a work mate who is travelling to Europe in October. I was just so excited to win.
Qantas have a competition at the moment where if you fly with them this June/July (and I am) you can win $5000AU flights for every year of your life! I hope I win!

Wow! Wouldn't that be a great thing to win? Good luck!

I won a Carnivale Cruise to Jamaica for a week. Went with my husband. He's now an X...wonder if that cruise had anything to do...naaaah...

I won 2 tickets business class anywhere British Midlands flew in Europe. I won it in a salsa dancing competition....it was a promotional thing for people who did trvel bookings for their company. There was a bus strike so only a handful showed up and a few glasses of champers later I was salsa queen. My self and my boyfriend went to Madris on this!

In December I won a $7500 Teacher Creativity Grant from the Eli Lilly Company. They give 100 grants away each summer to Indiana teachers.

I had to describe a 6 week full time project of personal enrichment which would make me a better teacher. I am going to France for the month of July to sightsee and follow the Tour de France around the country. I will also ride my bike in the mountains as a model of lifelong fitness. I have a weblog so that my students can follow my progress. When I get back I will spend two weeks putting together a PowerPoint presentation to show to my classes (I am an elementary physical education teacher of 700 students in grades K-3)and to develop bicycle safety lesson plans.

I leave for Paris June 27! I still can't believe I am getting paid to go cheer for Lance!

Suthungirl,
After reading everyone good fortune, i really feel like Charlie Brown..I got BIG ROCKS also..:)

For you lucky Fodorites,, I wish You a very Happy Journey...

Years ago through a contest at work, I won a trip to Bermuda. I also won a skiing trip to Vermont but took the cash instead.

Unrelated to travel...I won $6,000 on $25 raffle ticket!!!! Bought my first computer with the money and a few other things.

Kimerley,

I hope you check back on this thread. I have 2 Eiffel Tower tickets that I can mail to you so you'll have then in hand before you leave. If you get yours you can mail them to me if I need them which I probably won't since I'm saving for a month in Italy next year. And, I've sworn not to return to Paris until I can spend a month there! But, like my other resolutions that will too probably fall by the wayside and I'll go back for whatever amount of time. :-o

topping for kimerley

Amwosu, all over the Belgian and French newspapers are allegations that Lance used drugs...is that getting play in the States as well? I am very skeptical about the reports, but you may find a lot of hostility to Armstrong on the Tour this year; they have been rude to him before.

My husband won a free bottle of Coke. He would even get it if we went to the Monterey Aquarium during March. We figured a bottle of Coke is not worth the hassle :)

The drug thing has always followed Lance. He is yelled at pretty much all over Europe about "doping" to win. I guess the French have been a little nicer to him since he has picked up enough of the language to do interviews in French these days. Howevery, he has never been as popular with the French as Greg LaMonde was.

There is very little coverage about the tour at all compared to the news in Europe and no mention here of him doping to my knowlege. Currently, with the Olympics fast approaching there is alot of media coverage about performance enhancing drug use in track and field which is plagued by scandal much like cycling.

Most Americans don't follow cycling and don't know much about the race. When I won a grant to go to the tour there was an article about me in the local paper and people actually thought I was going to compete in the race (as if it were an amatuer event). I explained repeatedly that the cyclists are professional athletes with mega contracts and endorsement deals.

Many Americans don't know that cycling is a team sport and everyone works for the team leader. They don't realize that all of the guys on the USPS team aren't Americans- they think it is a race of one nationality against another like the Olympics. Nor do they know that it is a three week long race and that the route changes each year from clockwise to counterclockwise or that it frequently goes into countries besides France.

In Europe you can get full day live coverage of the event on several tv channels while we get an hour or two each day of the highlights on a cable station (and one program each week on a large network. Until last year the coverage was typically in the middle of the night when air time is less expensive.

I don't plan on announcing my allegience to Lance during the tour. No American flags or Lance t-shirts that get me heckled by fans of other teams. I do hope he wins but I also love the rivalries that go on. I want Jan to be in top form and I want Tyler to give them both a run for their money too. And I can't wait to see those wild Basque fans near the Spanish border.

.......we're Tour fans and watch the
whole dang event on TSN every year.
Totally addictive viewing!

.......wondering if Sharon Crowe will
be tagging behind her man.........((L))

There is a show on OLN cable network called "The Lance Chronicles" that has been following Lance around while he trains and carries out his daily life.

I was kind of surprised that Sheryl Crowe appeared in the show while the two of them were at his house in Spain. They looked and acted like a very cozy comfortable couple. I bet she'll be around for the TdF as well. He came into the house and yelled something like, "Hey does anyone want to be on tv? We can make a Paris Hilton tape." And Sheryl popped out of the laundry room and said, "I've been doing laundry all day, something Paris Hilton would NEVER do."

In another part of the episode he was shooting a commercial for Suburu and he had to change his pants in front of a couple of girls- clothing stylist & hair stylist I think. He made a comment like, "Sheryl is going to ask me if I took my pants off in front of any girls."

Hi Adrienne, many thanks for your offer...typical, I check it 10 days later! I leave in 7 days.....
Hope you do get to stay a month in Paris, would'nt it be great.

Hi Kimerley,

I'm interpreting your post to mean you do want the tickets. If so, please email me and either give me your home address or your hotel in Paris and I'll mail them tomorrow.

Like Statia, we won a trip when we badly needed one but couldn't have afforded the entire thing on our own. Radio contest- choice of 9 places in the US for 5 days, 4 nights. We chose San Francisco because it is so easily done without a car. Fantastic trip- that is actually what jump started our desire to travel.

Last Saturday while visiting Dallas, I bought a lottery ticket.Jackpot was 145M...I got 4 numbers and won $125.00...Took the bubbas to lunch Sunday!!

Several years ago, I won $5000 in the Maryland lottery. Paid for a trip to Korea.