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Yes, the 1st 'real' mountain stage isn't usually until Stage 9, 10 or 11 each year. It may take 1 stage longer to get to the mountains in counter-clockwise years (they switch direction every year) since the Pyrenees are so far south. They also dilly-dallied in the NE a lot this year, with the Tour going through Germany, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, and Belgium in the first few days.

It seems like they usually get to the mountains 1 stage quicker in the clockwise years, since the Alps are so much further north, and the Tour 'always' starts in the north. Could be interesting w/ the UK start next year, wonder where the 1st continental stage will be??

Is it normal for the tour to take this long to get to the mountains?

Ooops, meant to mention - how fast they get to the mountains is also a function of how many mountain stages are set for a particular Tour. This year only has 5 'real' mountain stages (10 & 11 in the Pyrenees, 15-17 in the Alps), many times there are 6. For whatever reason they appear to be hitting the Pyrenees lightly this year, only 2 stages, and mostly lesser, or at least less storied climbs (as if any stage w/ multiple 1's & 22's, & an HC or two can be called 'lesser' LOL!! :).

Yes, that's what I was talking about (tho' I got Armstrong's deficit to Kililev wrong.) Here's what Wiki says about 2001 stage 8:

The peloton took a day-off, but not so a group of 14 riders that had broken away. In the end they had a lead of almost 36 minutes, by far the largest one achieved in recent history. Even a lead of 22 minutes had not occurred in the last 25 years. Formally, this meant that the whole peloton finished out of time limits, but the referees understandably used a rule saying that they could give clemency to any group of more than 20% of the stage's starting riders, officially citing the weather conditions as their reason to do so. Still, the effects on the general classification were huge: Stuart O'Grady, who was in the group, retook the yellow jersey, and is now over 35 minutes ahead of Armstrong. Armstrong also has to make good over half an hour on Frenchman François Simon. Perhaps even more dangerous is Andrei Kivilev. He is 'only' 13 minutes ahead of Armstrong, but unlike the others from the escape group, he is known to be good in the mountains, so he needs not lose very much on the toppers in the rest of the Tour.

Stage 10 ended on Alp d'Huez, and Lance made up all but 2 minutes on O'Grady. But he was still 20 min behind Simon and 8 behind Kivilev. Lance finally took the lead on stage 13.