March 28, 2022 to March 30, 2022
Nice nice nice
Day 38 - Béziers to Montpellier
Montpellier to Nice (by train)
We were getting a train anyway, why did we decide to cycle the 30km to Montpellier? We even called in at the gare in Frontignan but as they lacked any real services, and the train wasn't for a couple of hours, we carried on.
Unfortunately, our route took us from busy roads, to creepy caravan huddles with chairs in the road to stop visitors, to literally impassable overgrown non-roads where we saw an enormous black dog roaming freely (luckily not too aggressive). So, we turned back to the really busy road with no shoulder, and eventually, after getting stuck in some out of town business park, we took a tram the last few kilometres to the station. It wasn't a very satisfying ride.
After that, getting two quite long trains with two enormous bicycles was about as painless as it gets! Not without stress, of course, but ultimately pretty easy, and I got some decent reading in for about the third time of the whole trip. It was still great to see the coastline and the beautiful towns - including Cannes! - from the train. The sea and the sky were indistinguishable in the silvery twilight, blending seamlessly once past the twinkling ripples close to the shore.
Day 39 - rest day Nice
We arrived fairly late, so we have only had one day really to explore and enjoy Nice. It's beautiful, and it's been fun to be in such a famous and well known city. We've mostly been walking around seeing the sights, although we have enjoyed two special delicious treats:
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| Heart | 2 | Comment | 0 | Link |
There is a huge old castle / chateau that overlooks the promenade, with a man-made waterfall you can see from perhaps a mile away. And you can go up (thankfully there is an elevator) and see it for yourself.
Tomorrow we have a pretty tough climb out of town - about 650 metres without respite, with some steep gradients. Still, we - might - hit three countries in one day! France, Monaco, Italy. I know Monaco doesn't really count, and I don't think our route even goes through it, but anyway...
Day 40 - rest day Nice
We decided to take another zero day here in Nice. No pictures. Weather much less sunny. I even had a nap.
Today's ride: 30 km (19 miles)
Total: 1,424 km (884 miles)
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Nice Nice yes it is !Great photies as ever ! Hope the next days get you over the hill and over to Italy - it’ll be downhill all the way after that ! Love and hugs in abundance ! I love this honest reporting it helps me share your journey your pains and your joy ! Buckets (and spades) of love ! X
2 years ago
On our first trip to France, we bought them as we went along (no GPS back then) and just planned each day where we would go. Now I buy them for assistance in creating routes to load on my Garmin, as it's nice not to have to consult the map at every crossroads, but I still carry them for when plans change.
2 years ago