Prince Albert of Monaco opened the proceedings - you see him in the smaller photograph - centre. On the left is Christian Prudhomme, Director of the Tour de France.
In the photo below: the crowds. We were apparently 9000 last night. When I got to this area of seating there was hardly a place to be had, so I walked down to the front, sat on the steps and there I stayed...it was all the best fun with a great atmosphere.
Over the next days, we'll meet the cyclists, we'll see how the engineers care for the bikes, we'll see the mad publicity caravan and we might even meet a devil!
Note: you can see last night's event on Eurosport television today.