Resting up in Nice, 2 Days.

Wednesday 29th & Thursday 30th of April, we're both rest days in Nice, France. Both days Sunny with some clouds & a max temp of 18degC.

We have had a good walk around the inner city, old town, port & pebble beach. Nice is a very attractive city and obviously very popular with international tourists.

Jenny & I also made good use of the Studio's washing machine and got up to date on all of our washing. We've also made sure to only eat out once per day and prepare the other 2 meals at the Studio. Plus purchased some more "Bike Stuff".

On a slightly negative note we have blown the budget for week 6 by over 400€. Worst weekly over spend since our first week ! Looking forward to heading off tomorrow, we'll ride through Monaco & some time in the afternoon arrive into Italy.

Catching up on washing.

Jenny walking down the 3 flights of rough stairs.

Cooking up some Italian and Salad.

Our neighbourhood pigeon, that appears to collect cigarette butts.

Our weekly pay day, notice beggar sitting next to the ATM, quite a few beggars around.

Walking around Nice, lovely architecture .

More of Nice.

Thirsty work, actually we are killing time until the Bike Shop opens after their 2 hour lunch break.

Car of the day, seems totally out of place in Nice.

Another grand building.

Mega yachts down at the Nice Port, the sail boat is Twizzle, you can charter it for 206000€ per week ! It's nearly 58 meters long.

Nice War Memorial.

Few clouds came in during the afternoon on Wednesday.

Thursday, watching the water spouts in the park.

Cool and unusual fountain.

The police get around on Segways !

Time to head back to the Studio and get ready to cycle to Italy tomorrow.

Nice to be here !

28/04/15, Day 42, Frejus to Nice, via Cannes, 74kms, 750mtr hill climb over 12kms. 20degC max, 6km/h wind from the north, sunny with some cloud. Departed 9am - Arrived 4pm. Quite a hard ride, finished with having to carry our gear and bikes up 3 stories.

Wow we are in Nice, France, someone pinch us, it feels like a dream. We have rented a studio room in the Old Town section, for 3 nights only 200€ It's not far from the Port full of mega yachts, amazing so far. The building we are in was constructed in 1673 we had to carry all of our gear & out bikes up to the 3rd floor. Not easy after a 74 kay day.

Old Town of Nice, that's me pointing to the number 7 in utter amazement.

And me feeling shattered after carrying all our stuff up to the third floor, Jen did bring her own bike up, you all know how she can be !

Jen & I have decided we need to make earlier starts in the mornings so we are going to attempt a 9am departure instead off our usual form of 10am or later. 

This morning was successful, 9am we are on the bikes, though no breakfast yet! Davo instructed us out of Frejus quite successfully, even took us past a fantastic Patisserie. Jen went in while I played guard dog. Once Jenny came out we headed across to the park to eat out quiche & pomme pasties.

All packed up and departing the Hotel Atolls in Frejus at 9am, good start to a big day.

Pastries for breakfast in the park.

Unbelievably there was an ancient Roman aqueduct right there in the park from 250AD, it was huge, took some pics then on our way.

Right next to a Roman Aqueduct Ruin....cool.

From then on it was a 750mtr ascent over about 12kms, we road up the first 300 metres, then it was a case of walk, ride, walk, ride. Finally the summit of our day arrived and it was a cruisey ride down to the DN7 highway.

We were at nearly sea level in Frejus, now 9kms later we are at 300mtrs, the Climb Begins.

First time doing any real walking since Calpe back in Spain, this was a big hill.

Rest time, make sure you have a drink Jen.

Riding along the DN7 Hwy into Cannes (famous for the annual film festival) was great, we were hitting 50km/h plus most of the way into Cannes. Once there we stopped for lunch, that Jen thoughtfully purchased back in Frejus when she grabbed our brekky. Very busy and posh looking. 

We are in Cannes for lunch and cokes ( well I had a Kromberg but it was in a red can so Jen thought it was coke :-) 

The local Cannes Marina was amazing.

Reasonably difficult to navigate out of Cannes (it is a big place) but finally we were on a great bicycle path that ran along the beach, well it would have been great but there were pedestrians, kids on scooters, roller bladers and other cyclists to dodge. We dealt with this all the way around the bay, until we were at the Port of Nice. Davo GPS was giving us some dubious instructions to the Studio Room we have rented, next thing you know we are smack bang in the middle of Nice's Old Town. 

Near the Castle Rock in Nice, the girls sure like to go topless here. No photos people I'm not a perv.

Now Nice has a population of over a Million & Davo has never actually been here before so it's hard to trust him. Plus he is only made up of plastic & circuit chips. But to his credit and Jenny's amazement Davo located us outside of a prehistoric door with 1673 AD chiseled in the rock above it and a rusty number 7 just to the right of it. It was 4.30pm.

Jen rang our contact and he said he'd be there in half an hour, so we waited and 40 minutes later "David" (true) turned up, I'm pretty sure he bats for the other team, but he's nice (pun intended) enough. So he runs us through the routine, both Jen & my knees groan with the excitement of carrying bikes & gear up 3 stories of 350yo stairs, ducking your head under support beams as you go. 

Next we had dinner in the old town square Italian of course as we are now in training for the Italiano crossing.

Playing Dodgems on the cycle path to Nice.

Sort of lost in Nice, one of the major town squares. Once a river there ?

Same as above. Read they put the tram tracks over the river so once upon a time there would have been a river in this pic.

Day 41; 48 more left to Ride to UK. Rain.

27/04/15, Day 41, Monday, France, Draguignan to Frejus, 34kms. Wet day, 15km easterly winds, 16degC. False start at 10am(rain, lots) departed 11am, arrived 3pm. 

In the past 6 weeks, 1418 kms have been ridden by us so far , we have also travelled on the trains for about 650kms (450km of that was Madrid to Alacant) & driven 100kms in a car. Both Jenny & I are still really enjoying our time on the bikes & have even had some tentative talks about the next cycle adventure when & where. In the mean time we'll continue to embrace this trip, we are loving the lifestyle.

Some how in the next 6 weeks & 6 days, we need to cycle approximately 2000kms from Nice, Southern France to the Ferry Terminal in Calais or Boulogne. Alternatively catch the Train under the Channel from Lille, France.

Can we do it, well we are both fitter now, getting lost less & have done lots of research for Northern Italy & Switzerland. It is possible, but we may have to make our departure times in the morning an hour earlier & have a few less rest days. We only have a 90 day visa for Europe & don't really want to find out what happens if you go over. (48 days to get to the UK !)

Easy riding today, mostly descending towards the coast. We got caught out by a little rain & even had to hide the bikes and ourselves under the blue tarp during one heavy down pour. We arrived at the Hotel Atoll, the rain had just started again, booked in with no problems, it's near the Port so we'll head down there soon to check out some tattoo parlours and have a few beers.

We are about to leave the dry sanctuary of Hotel Au Relais de Trans at 10am then the rain starts.

We wait and watch. We are a bit like cats and don't like the rain much.

We spot a La Poste (in background), Jen heads over to recharge the French SIM.

While I'm waiting for Jenny, I decide to take some photos of the surroundings.

So much different to Australia, they had massive floods here in 2010 and sadly 12 people died in the floods. Draguinan Var, France.

The heavens open up there is nowhere to hide so we quickly dug out the tarp.

Mostly down hill today, here is Jen taking a "photo opportunity" during one of the few ups.

We ride over a bridge and into a gorge.

Gorge on one of the back roads towards Frejus.

Getting hot are you Jen ?

We call this work now !

The reverse under arm riding photo trick shot, still have to master this one.

We are riding along a nice quiet Chemin, on our right is this fantastic scenery ! ! !

On our left side is the super busy A8 with trucks & cars whizzing past at 110km/h+

How good is this photo, pretty much sums up our easy 34km day, wet, great riding, nice views, chatting to each other, happy to be here in this moment !

Long Post, but worth the Read.

25/04/15 Day 39, Saturday, ANZAC Day, Rest Day in Brignoles, France. Rain in morning. Jenny & I had decided on a day off, in part because it's ANZAC day, but also we were a bit fatigued. 

We caught up on washing, had a small look around Brignoles, which seems to be off the tourist radar. Heaps of laying around blogging, researching our route and surfing the net. 

Washing day again, 3rd Laundromat in the last 6 weeks, things get a bit wiffy at times.

Washings Soooo Boring, Old Town, Brignoles France.

Main Old Town Square, Brignoles.

Lazy arvo at the Hotel Le Provence, where to next Brains, Brignoles

View out of our Brignoles Hotel room.

Jen & I later went out for dinner at a Moroccan Restaurant called Aladdin's,  the owner/manager was an absolute crack ! He is running us through the menu and describing the food with his very limited English. He gets up to the Lamb section look at us and goes Baarrrr ! Next beef, moo, moo. Then chicken, yes you guessed it bok, bok, I'm starting to think we are at Old McDonalds Farm. Really was a fun night, food was great, we ate and drank heaps for only 60€. (We would pay well over a $100AUD for similar at home).

26/04/15 Day 40, Sunday, Brignoles to Draguignan via Le Thoronet. On the road routes D24, D13, D79, D17, D562 and a goat track which in stages could have been a ruin Roman road. Cloudy 17degC, 61kms. Good days ride but accommodation was a hassle. Read On Matey's !

What a day, we experienced lots of emotional highs & some lows. Plus physical ones ascents were 480mtrs & descents 475mtrs (according to Google Maps). We said our Merci's & Aurivour's to our most excellent Hotel Owners, they were great. Grabbed Yellow Dawg & Black Betty out of the garage then tried to find our way out of yet another medium size french town, usually a difficult task. 

Ok I'm ready to hit the road, it's going to be a great day, hey Jenny !

DavoGPS did not fail to let us down and proceeded to find us the most challenging route out of Brignoles. We knew he was having a lend of us when after 3kms we were lifting one fully loaded bike at a time over strategically placed large 400kg granite rocks across the road (no pics of that, to busy doing grunt work). If only we knew what the little electronic bastard had in store for us later in the day ! That was gaff one...

Finally found our way out of town, thanks for the extra workout DavoGPS, Onya !

We followed all the road routes stated above, there were some other cyclists out enjoying the mild weather also some Boy Racers driving a new Nissan GTS Skyline, newish Ferrari, new Chevy Corvette and older model Porche 911 went zooming past in a very fast convey, wish we'd had a chance to photograph that !

The Fast & Furious cars escaped our camera, but old yellow Citreon couldn't get away.

Lovely weir. Le Caramy. Nice....

Whoops down loaded the wrong selfie on the weir bridge.

The riding was just so good, hardly any traffic, the scenery & environment were fantastic. This is the France, Jenny & I dreamed of seeing !  Mountain views, streams with historic bridges, old villages with church bells ringing as we cruised through and so much more. Look there were some hills, but the down hills were heaps of fun. Finally after a pretty quick 27kms we rolled into Le Thoronet & stopped at the Patisserie which had a cool pic of Freddy Mercury baking Pain (French bread to Aussies). We ate our fill then continued on.

See on the wall, a picture of Freddy Mercury baking Pain...LOL

Now which way ?

Davo GPS gaff number two: Dave gets us riding along a Chemin (French country single lane, usually bitumised with pot holes) this one goes for a fair way, maybe 4kms up hill, then there is a nice steep down hill run for a kilometre. At the bottom Davo wants us to turn right onto a Piste ( French gravel/dirt/rocky track) this one looks ok and after consulting the maps it appears to link up with a highway after 4.5kms. We do about 500mtrs and it's so isolated we decide it's a good opportunity to take a "piss" so we both do our biz and ride on.

Two kilometres later riding pretty slow with flash backs of our Munda Biddi Adventure we arrived at an old rock bridge crossing a clear stream. We stopped on the bridge, you could see ducks & fish below...wow !

4kms along & up the Chemin, now for the down hill...yippee let the fun begin.

No on the Piste, a bit reminiscent of Western Australia's, Munda Biddi.

Immediately after the bridge the Piste deteriorated to an eroded uphill 4WD track that would severely challenge our Landcruiser. Do we retrace our path back about 7kms and go a different way or take a gamble the track will become rideable or at least stay walkable and push on for another 2 to 2.5kms to the highway. 

It is 2pm we are surrounded by France's version of bush ( spiky, prickly plants) on the side of a cliff. What would you do ???

How old is this bridge, out in the middle of no where.

Oh shit, this could end badly.

This hurts Willsie, "Beam Me Up Scotty"

Sshhuuss I can hear something Jen. Oh it's just the groaning of Straya Animals.

Well Team wiljen continue on, the track doesn't improve, it is ankle breaking stuff, some sections almost appear to be like an ancient cobbled road clinging to the side of the mountain. Jenny does a stoic job and after walking, lifting, dragging our precious bikes through this for 40 minutes we finally reach a Farm House and then not much further the D562 Highway, we only are 5kms from Draguignan.

We stop in the town centre of Draguignan (another medium size French town pop. 38000 ) We are about to eat our Pain & Chiritzo when 3 teenage girls engage us in conversation. They were very curious, one of them "Emilie" spoke some high school English, Lyly some School Spanish & Andrea, French. So it was an interesting hour, Jen & I picked up a couple of new French words & had a bit of a laugh. Thanks Girls.

Emilie, Andrea & Lyly, the girls must have been bored because they quizzed us for an hour  about Australia and our cycle adventure. 

 

Then they insistered they take a picture of us, thanks Girls.

Now it's 4pm, the weather is going to turn bad, heaps of rain coming. Jen & I decide we'll spend two nights at the Campground 3kms away in a bungalow & wait for a better weather window.

Davo's Gaff No.3: takes us the long way, up hills & into a dead end...FU Dave!

Madam Google provides some relief but still was a temperamental bitch that made us ride along a BMX track. As you can imagine Jenny was seething.

Finally at 5pm we arrive at the campground on the outskirts of Draguignan. We don't have a booking, I'm dying for a wizz & my back teeth are floating. The Reception is closed, though the sign say it should be open. After a lot of hassle I find Jon-Luc the "unpaid" caretaker, he says the boss/owner is away and unless we have a booking we can't stay until tomorrow, once the owner returns. To be honest Jon-Luc tried his best, he rung & did what he could. I even offered him hush money for just one night but no luck with Jon-Luc.

I still badly needed a wee so before departing I decided to head over to the nearby campground bar which appeared to be hosting a private party. All I wanted was a quick pee people, I was busting ! I drifted past the party people through the bar, Past the table with the remains of their 2pm banquet on it, I was nearly at Shangri-La and this older women starts screaming at me in French, I charade the urgency of my issue but she won't let me pass to the toilet and continues screaming at me to get out of the Bar, I'm guessing.

Beaten I head out the main door with everyone looking at me, I cross past the boom gates, Jenny is busy trying to find some alternative digs for the night & I just go over to the fence and piss on it with my back to the Party Crowd....aarrhh that's better, "hey Jen, I think it's time we make a move".

So where did we end up you are wondering, well about 2 more kays away there was this roadside motel on the main drag out of Draguignan on the way to Grasse, it is self serve place where I gather salesmen, overnighters, prostitutes, unfaithful spouses & touring cyclists stay. Put your credit card in the machine, it spits out a key card to a room and Bob's your Uncle, you have a room for the night, no questions asked. FYI the room is actually ok & Jen cooked up some dinner out the back. Catchya Later !

We arrive at the Motel Stimulate (real name to be kept secret) & I notice this Ducati parked in the disabled spot...I wonder what the disability is, small ????

This is reception, a robot serves you, takes your cash & spits out a key...cool I think.

The Love Shack ? Not tonight .

Jenny cooking up a storm, just outside our room, Sausage, Tomato & Rice. Bon.