We had discussed taking today off and enjoying doing nothing as our legs rested.  But with not the best hotel room to do nothing in, we packed up and paddled out of town. In our research for this stretch, we learned there was a bike path created along the old railway, all we had to do is find it; something none of the web sites were very specific about.  Amazingly, we did find it.Not hard to imagine a train track on our course as we wound through small towns, the backyard of homes and vineyards. Occasionally our course rode beside the road,with vistas of the mountains

we hoped to avoid today.   That idea lasted until about 11:00, when our climbing began.  The shoreline of Cote d’Azur was obscured most of the day by large homeshigh fences or trees making the occassionl glimpse of the sea, that much sweeter.Every cove showed hillsides filled with homes also looking for that glimpse of the Sea.  Just before noon, feeling pretty confident with less than ten miles to go, we decided to slow down, take a break and enjoy lunch.  Little did we know (though history would prove otherwise) that we would have a good climb on a dirt and rock path; it slowed our last stretch down tremendously. Luckily, the last couple miles were paved, so we were able to enjoy our last downhill at more than 6 mph.  Checked into our hotel on the outskirts of this small beach village.  Strolled the white sand beach, but didn’t last long in the heat of the late afternoon.  Rested for the rest of the afternoon; we have some tough mountains to climb tomorrow.

Due to the ridiculous amount of pictures from today’s ride, we’ve decided not to post, just too overwhelming!

It actually was a thought, fleeting as it was, with almost 350 pictures.

The wind was howling when we got up this morning, trees bending, sand swirling kind of howling.  Luckily, we were headed for the hills.  For our three mile climb we were nestled in the trees,

protected from the wind and cars.  We saw lots of bikers, an occasional runner

We have a short ride today; one: because we are really tired and secondly: we wanted to spend a night in Nice which is not that far away.

The beach was already full as we pulled away at 9:30 this morning. The homes are just as gorgeous on the ride out as they were on the way in.One town connects with the other with very little interruption.  But the town of Antibes stands alone in uniqueness.  Besides the (apparently) required yachts, it features what appeared to be an old castle,beautiful narrow (albeit steep) streets and a lovely small town feel.  The view of the Alps in the distance was breathtakingand though it does not come through in photos, we actually saw snow on the highest peaks.Saw this structure from miles awaynot sure if we were more impressed with this condo’s architecture or the peaks of the Alps in the distance.  Once again our ride today was greatly assisted by the whipping wind; we tried hard to slow down, but at times actually had to apply brakes to do so.  Even in the heavy wind the beaches were packed, but there was no sand to blow, these beaches were all rock; guess we are spoiled with the soft sand in Virginia Beach.

On our way into the city, we biked by the Nice airport, that has more (big) private jets parked, than most airlines have in their fleet.  We easily found the way to our hotel and checked in to veg/relax, etc.  Of course that never lasts for long, before we itch to check out the city.  From what we saw, Nice does not have the tightly packed narrow streets, but it is not without it’s stunning architecture

attractive squaresand hordes of people shopping. By the time we reached the waterfront in the evening, the wind had picked up to 40 mph, turning the calm crystal blue waters into a stormy sea,

still just as breathtaking;but nothing as spectacular as Old Gloryone of the very few we’ve seen on this trip.

One last picture of the American Episcopal Church (1886) from our walk back after a spectacular bowl full of mussels and Bolognese.

Tomorrow we take a much needed day off; this time it will really happen as we’ve booked our room for two nights……..and we are sleeping in, so may be a while before we post 😉

Light day today. Slept in, then ventured out in much cooler weather for an old fashioned “American” breakfast, found a ham and cheese omelet to die for (‘course the bill almost killed us), first eggs we’d had since arriving in France; they just do croissants and incredibly delicious baguettes for breakfast.

Many of the building have obviously had the years of wear and pollution cleaned off, so they sparkled.

Though the rounded corners of the buildings are the most appealing to me,the difference of plants in front of this one was most interesting.And then there was the majestic Negresco Hotel offering a view of the beach for less than $1300. a night.

Today is Bastille Day in France, so we figured we see a parade or at the very least, everyone out and about on their day off.  With the exception of the few people scattered on the beach, it was like a ghost town.  We imagine they are resting for the night’s festivities.  On our stroll back to rest, we saw the Church of Saint Peter Arena

and another favorite, flowers in window boxes.

Our last night in France, we went Italian; a fabulous salad with anchovies, calzone and a bottle of wine. We’ll be in luck if the Italians can match this.

Based on the cars parked on both sides the road a mile inland, we figured the evening festivities had begun, so we strolled down to the water to check it out.  At the end of our street a band was playing American Rock N Roll and doing a great job.

So instead of relaxing and resting, we “shaked, rattled and rolled” to the music. Thankfully, they stopped for an incredible fireworks displayso we were able to cool off a bit.   We scooted out before the fireworks ended and the next band began; it was time to turn in, if we were ever going to ride in the morning.

Arles to Nice, France

237 miles

We left just after eight this morning, apparently very late based on the amount of people that were already out and about. Everyone was out walking, running, biking or driving. Our theory that people would sleep in after last night’s festivities, was way off.  We haven’t seen this many people on a Sunday morning our entire trip and more bikers than we’ve seen since Amsterdam last year.

As soon as we left the Nice waterfront, we climbed around the point and dropped into the Nice harbor, packed with sailboats, yachts and a cruise ship already in port. The climbing continued the rest of the day in and out of harborsthat filled the coves. But it was the Alpsthat we skirted, and the small towns that gained our camera’s attention today.

We reached Monte Carlo, Monaco before ten, bringing back memories from our trip here 28 years ago.We ‘raced’ through town (pun intended); actually this principality, packed into the side of the Alps, is so small, it takes very little time to get through, even when you are taking your time.  The climbing began again on the way out of town.As is usually the case, the higher we climb, the better the view.The colorful towns were especially striking outlined by the mountains.At 11:30 we crossed the border into our final country of the trip.We saw even more bikersand the ride continued to be gorgeousthough the climbs tough, thank goodness we took a day off before this leg.Our destinationis a charming town, not a bit of which we remember.  Tried to find the jewelry store we bought our wedding bands in, but we were only armed with a memory, so it was for naught.  But the people watching was good.and plenty of other things to see.That’s it from our visit to San Remo.

Our first hour was on an old rail track  that they had cleaned up and paved for biking and walking.  We had front row seats to harbors, tree lined paths through towns and an occasional tunnel; one was a mile long.  But best of all, it was flat, well used by only bikes and foot traffic and simply divine.  You could almost see the train running along our path.Not having to compete with vehicle traffic, we were able to easily take more pictures. Our first swans this trip.The thought that today’s ride wasn’t going to be so bad as we easily pedaled and took in the sights, evaporated when the path ended abruptly and we immediately began to climb and the climbing was wicked but the downhills were great.The port of Imperia had pretty colored buildings and a real local feel, until you turned around and viewed the multi-million dollar yachts in the harbor.There were bell towers everywhere on today’s ride.Many interesting towns and beaches packed with people. Cars and bikesparked anywhere they could find a spot, some a mile plus away from any access to the beach.  Sometime before noon, the wind started swirling, but mostly in our face, creating the need to bike downhill (our only chance for a pedal break), but the views…..this lighthouse sat high enough on the hill we were climbing, it could probably been seen all the way to the boot.

Stopped for water and met Ruth from Switzerland and Anna from Italy, who invited us to stay with them, but we regrettably already had reservations in a town down the road, Grazie Ruth.

Though we’ve been climbing the foothills of these mountains, finally we got far enough away to get a good shot.  We picked our destination town simply because it fell within the mileage we wanted to do.  Had no idea it would offer so much. Quaint streetsand the Basilica Saint Nicollo; though the outside was totally covered up for renovation the inside was exquisite.Found a wonderful place for dinner, and as much as we enjoyed our shrimp pasta, the owners truly made it special; that and the Lemoncellio after dinner drink!

Passed the 2000 mile mark today; since it seems more like 4000 we’re heading to bed to rest.