We decided to bike a bit further than usual today to reach France, because we were not sure we had enough lire left to cover another night's lodging in Italy.

For a 75 mile day it was surprisingly easy, an very beautiful under skies that steadily improved all day long.  We really enjoyed quite a leisurely ride - ten miles to a breakfast stop in Finale Ligure, where we picnicked by the water on pastries and oranges; twenty more miles, and a cappuccino break at Marina di Andore; ten more miles, and a cheese and bread feat at San Lorenzo al Mare; fifeen more, and a gelato stop in San Remo; ten more, and a stop at a bike store in Ventimiglia for new bike shirts for each of us; and then on to Menton, just across the border.

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Other than all the refreshment breaks, the day featured: being chased down by a grocer to return my bike bag (ed: not sure what this means - did I leave a pannier at the store?); incredible bumper to bumper traffic jams in San Remo and Ventimiglia, in which it was a clear advantage to be on a bike; continuous beautiful headlands and seaside towns bound by the incredibly beautiful Mediterranean Sea; a wonderful botanical display throughout the day, featuring cacti and other succulents, and beautiful purple climbers and violet morning glories facing the stone walls that frequently rimmed the highway.

We arrived in Menton at about 6 and quickly found an inexpensive, satisfying room -at about 220 ff, it was much less expensive than I feared we would find along the coast.  Menton surprised me - for some reason I had expected it to be large, industrialized, not too attractive - but in fact it is a beautiful city in a very colorful setting.  Backed up against a grey limestone ridge, it rises up from the sea in a dense conglomeration of tile roofed, pastel plaster homes, crowned by a lovely church and cemetery.  From above, the tile roofs  make a striking contrast to the stunning blue of the sea.  The hillside housing below the church is very intriguing to explore - it is a maze of narrow, twisting, crisscrossed tile stairways providing the only passageways up the steep hillside.

For dinner we collected various snacks and pastries from the commercial center and then wandered down to the water to enjoy our meal on a pier jutting out into the bay.