Day 9 - Nice not nice

Monday 18th July 2116

 It's time for a parting of the ways for a few days at least. There is no point to Mick and I hanging around the repair shop waiting for Sean's bike to be fixed so we decide to leave Sean waiting for rescue and head up the north side of the gorge for the last time.
The original tour plan was to head for the corsica ferry today but we decide to delay the crossing until Sean rejoins the team.

Back on the gorge road
down in the canyon

It is a glorious road all the way to Castellane where we stop for lunch in the market place. The market is in full swing. I buy some local goats' cheese (very stinky) and I have a Mediterranean salad, Mick has an omelette in a bar we patronised last year.

Mick and his frothy coffee obsession
 The internet is fast and free so we linger a while so I can catch up with a little blogging. Mick has his usual frothy coffee but I stick to black.

Next it is a long looping route in the hills a few miles above the Côte d'Azur as we ride down to the coast and along to Nice.
 
It was all going so well. But there is a massive traffic snarl up in Nice. After the recent terrorist atrocity a section of the coast road has been closed and the resulting traffic chaos is awful. It is so hot that the bike is overheating.

We finally escape from Nice and ride up into the foothills to Peillon and Camping de la Laune. It is all very basic 'nature' camping so there are no facilities beyond loos and showers. There is no shop or bar.

I am directed to a local supermarket about 5 kilometres away, a Supermarche that of course is closed. It is after 8pm and this is France. So I head back into Nice.


High above the Meditteranean

There are hundreds of restaurants, cafe and, bars but can I find an actual shop that is open and willing to take my money? No, nothing open. Even the petrol stations are closed.
After an hour of riding around fruitlessy I finally find a bakery that is trading and buy two baguettes. That's it for the night.

I get back to Peillon after 10pm and pitch my tent in the dark. Sleep at last.

Good road down to the coast

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 20 - Riding Solo

Image
Friday 29th July 2016 I am definitely ready to leave Camping U Prunelli. I've been camped in the same spot for a week now which is some kind of record for my tours.  So in the cool of the morning I pack up all my gear (plus some of Mick's that he couldn't carry with him) and finally set off around 09:30. Leaving Camping U Prunelli It would have been earlier but the campsite lady co-opts me to tidy up the English translations on some new notices she is preparing for the campsite.  "If not man in Reception please registration on the bar" - that sort of thing. I contemplate translating it as "My hovercraft is full of eels" but I don't think I will get away with that. I'm not sure how popular Monty Python may be in this corner of Europe. Main road to Bastia I've been thinking a lot about how I will continue this tour now that I am flying solo. The original plan was to return to France and explore the Alps along the Fr...
Read more

Day 17 - Another day in Paradise

Image
Tuesday 26th July 2016 It's getting to be a routine. I am up at 6am for coffee and a breakfast of whatever is available - a leftover croissant, jam and a banana. High up in the Haut Corse Then I'm off for another early morning solo run into the mountains south and east of Ajaccio. The temperature drops as I climb up to some of the highest peaks in Corsica. The roads are empty and the scenery is very beautiful. The road winds up a number of hairpins and out onto a treeless high plain. Haut Corse overlook I stop for breakfast at Bar Relax in the tiny mountain village of Aullene. It certainly is a relaxed affair. The lady owner offers me access to the Wifi and I spend a couple of hours uploading photographs to the blog, catching up with the blog diary and getting another episode published and posted. The cafe at Aullene Leisrely breakfast Then it is more mountain pass riding until I drop down to the coast and...
Read more

Day 2 - Fish and Taxis

Image
Monday 11th July 2016 The sea is calm next morning but the ferry is an hour late docking in Santander. We fight our way through a thousand Harley Davidsons on deck 2.  Eventually we are off and thread our ways through the narrow streets and out of town.   Arriving in Santander   The A8 is one of the most beautiful motorways in Europe. It swoops and rolls along the northern coast of Cantabria and Asturias where the mountains touch the sea. Our first night of camping is on the cliff tops near Luarca, a lovely little harbour settlement reminiscent of a Cornish fishing village. it is a steep walk down to the town but worth it.   Cliff top camping in Luarca   Luarca harbour at sunset Another sunset shot The little harbour is full of boats and a fantastic sunset presents a scene from a movie as the sun dips down into the Atlantic and floods the harbour with red-orange light. We find a harbour-side fish restaurant and settle in fo...
Read more