July 13, 2017
Castellane to Cannes
Coming back down to sea level, bad roads, and city traffic
The Route Napoléon designates the series of highways along the route followed by Napoléon on his return from exile, from his landing at Vallauris Golfe-Juan to Grenoble (from whence he presumably continued to Paris). Apparently there are markers topped by the Imperial Eagle, but I didn't see any.
The route is highlighted green on the map, though in my opinion it was not nearly so scenic as the previous roads we've followed. Traffic was heavier but not unbearable, at least until we got as far as Grasse. After finally getting through and out of Grasse, we got onto D 9, D 109, and finally some separated bike routes.
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Speaking of Grasse: the road surface deteriorated significantly here and remained awful into Cannes. Al's front pannier, the uncooperative one, bounced off more than once. These were the worst road surfaces we encountered on the trip.
We had identified a campground near La Bocca, where there is also a train station. Sadly, said campground was at the top of a significant hill. I have to admit, I walked an especially steep section, but in my own defence, it was the end of a long day in the heat and we had already done 4 cols.
Other than its elevation, Camping Le Ranch was fine for our purposes: it had shady sites and a pool. It was also isolated from services like restaurants, but that's to be expected so close to a city.
In the early evening, we trekked down the hill into La Bocca, hoping to get some train information at the station. But the station was really just a stop, so we took the local train to Cannes. The people at the info desk tried to help but could not get beyond TGVs and their extremely limited capacity for unboxed bikes (4 per train, reservations required well in advance). I tried to explain that we had allowed time to make the trip on regional trains, but the language barrier was too high. We went out for dinner instead.
After we ate, our waiter asked if we were planning to watch the fireworks starting at 10 tonight. He explained that, due to the Bastille Day bombing in Nice last year, the fireworks in Cannes were tonight instead. We found ourselves walking along the Croisette at 9:45 and although there were a lot of people, it wasn't ridiculously crowded like Vancouver always is for the Celebration of Light. We decided to stay.
Then we learned that this wasn't just a Bastille Day celebration; it was the first of a series of musically-accompanied fireworks displays like Vancouver's Celebration of Light and tonight's entry was from Canada.
Afterward, train back to La Bocca and a sweaty hike up the hill.
83 km, ascent 944m, descent 1557 m
Today's ride: 83 km (52 miles)
Total: 1,000 km (621 miles)
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