Day 10 - Old Haunts and a New Tyre

Tuesday 19th July 19 2016

We leave the camp site at Peillon at 10am and head over to the Supermarche for fuel. I go in the shop, whch is now open, and buy a few emergency provisions; pain de raisin, wine, bananas and eggs. Mick only buys a couple of nectarines which later turns out be a big mistake.

We stop for a breather on the climb up to Col de Turini

Looking south towards Nice

Next is a lovely twisty ride up to the Col de Turini. Three roads meet at the top of the pass at an altitude of 1607m. We rode over here last year but approached from the north west and departed to east and south on a poorly surfaced descent. This southern approach up from Luceram is much better. A hard climb up multiple hairpins to the Col at 1600 metres.

Lunch at the Three Valleys hotel

 

Col de Turini - 1607m

We have a lunch of spaghetti bolognese and coffee on the terrace at the Hotel des Trois Vallees at the summit. Inside the hotel every available wall space is plastered with pictures of famous Monte Carlo Rally drivers and their cars.

After lunch we turn west up the Vallee de la Vesubie. Frequent road signs tell us that we are riding along the Rue Des Grandes Alpes. It is rugged and quite spectacular. At times the road clings to the side of the narrow gorge.

We are heading to Rimplas where we hope to see Stefan, the proprietor of the Hostellerie de Randonneur and ex bike racer. I stayed here a few years ago and Mick and I stayed again last year.

Mick's front tyre is showing serious signs of wear and we are hoping that Stefan can recommend a local tyre depot where we can get a replacement.

Arrival at Dafy Moto

And lo, a new front tyre is fitted

There is no sign of Stefan and the hotel is locked up. But then as we are preparing to leave a guy turns up and asks if he can help us. This is Frank, a friend, who calls Stefan and we get direction to a tyre shop a few miles down the road towards Nice. So we hightail it down the road following the Var river on its way to the sea.

The tyre place cannot do the job but gives us directions to another shop on the outskirts of Nice.
It's getting late now, almost 6pm, but we are told they are open and may be able to do the job. At least we can book it in for the morning if they have a replacement tyre
.

As it turns out the guys at Dafy Motos are absolute stars. Not only do they have a Dunlop Roadsmart in the right size but they whip the bike into the workshop and in less than an hour it's all done and dusted for the astonishingly low price of €114.

It's after 7pm now so we head north and up the Gorges de la Vesubie in search of a campsite. We find a great little site but it has no shop, cafe or bar, all very basic.

There is however a great old boy running the place who jabbers on in rapid French regardless of our blank looks. When I finally get him to slow down we have a good old natter about the state of the world, Britain's Brexit and France's terrorism threat.

The atrocity in Nice is in all our minds. We finally decide that education is the only feasible solution. Not bad for a tranquil evening chat on the banks of the Vesubie.

The old boy tells us that the only restaurant is 5 kilometres up the road. After pitching the tents and showering we are not inclined to get back into the biking gear so this is when Mick's decision to go with just the nectarines is looking like a bad lifestyle choice.

Out of the kindness of my heart I share my meagre fare with him but he remains beerless. I have a lovely chateau bottled Bordeaux but as Mick doesn't do wine he has to find solace in a cup of tea (with powdered milk naturally).

So we end a tiring day listening to Bob Dylan's Blood On The Tracks before getting in the sleeping bags for an early night. 

Our pitch at Camping Merveilles

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