Provence | ch3

68km of 3110km so far…

Today I finally left Nice after spending there three night. My knee was feeling ok in the morning, but I started getting the pains within the first 5km. I rode very slowly and always on low gear, to minimize the problem.

: Nice and its port as I was leaving

After Nice I went through many towns and villages, that were almost connected to one each other. There were always big hills and mountains on my left and the road had a few tunnels.

: The bay of Villefranche

: Not very glamorous beach

: One of the tunels I went through

: I guess it’s typical to show off your car around there

The big highlight on the way was of course The Principality of Monaco. It’s is very small and as it is located on the slope of the mountains, it means it is very densely build. Big posh hotels and restaurants, a port full of massive yatchs and of course many fast cars. I didn’t stay much as I couldn’t find any boulangeries around to refuel my stomach. But I did ride over the Formula One track which goes within the city and felt like an F1 pilot as I was going under the casino tunnel with the wild speed of 15km/h!

: By the Formula One track

: Monte Carlo

: The Casino tunnel

: les triplettes de Monaco

I left Monte Carlo and half an hour later I stopped at Menton for lunch. I had a microwaved chicken escalope sandwich, on a dry baguette, with minimal tomato and lettuce in it, along with a coca cola. I know not the best choice for my last lunch in France, but didn’t have many other options.

Menton, the last French city

The Italian borders at the backround

At kilometer 3080 of my trip, I crossed the borders to Italy. I spend 46 days in France and I think I am very lucky that my first cycling tour is in such a country. Many say it is the best country for cycle touring because of the all the cycling infrastructure and the awareness of the drivers. On top of that there is a huge variety of landscapes, beautiful cities and villages, loads of history and of course an amazing cuisine. What else can somebody on a bike ask?

Au revoir France...

It’s a little strange cycling in Italy and I think it will take me a couple of days to get used to a different country. My biggest problem is the language which I don’t speak at all. So I am relying on the locals to speak English or Greek, before I start my acting. After going through a few towns, I sto[ped at San Remo as I knew there is a camp site. A relatively nice and clean camping, but the only one where I had to pitch my tent on paved ground!

Au revoir

0km of 3042km so far…

And here I am, still inÂ Nice. One of the advantages of solo cycle touring, is that I can change my plans at any time. Last night I met Imen in the hostel. Sh is just about to start her studies in Nice, so as she is new to the city we said to go around and explore it. I didn’t mind at all staying another day in Nice and another day in France. It would also be good for my knee to get some extra rest.

One of the employees of the hostel is Greek and the very first Greek person I met during my entire trip in France.Â I find it a little bit strange, but it is true. He told me there is a Greek church just around the corner from the hostel, so we decided to go and have a look.

The Greek church an the embasy

Later on, we went via the old city to the other side of the hill, where there is the port of Nice. It’s a small port, but if fits one ferry, many yatchs and even more small fishing boats.

A patch of sand, just so everybody is happy

Pick one

Fishing boats

There was a music festival taking place in one of the churches in the old part of the city. Part of the festival had a flower decoration exhibition, so the church was full of flowers filling the space with a nice scent.