September 26, 1993
To Nice
18
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This was a short but very beautiful day. There was a mild shower overnight, but by the time I arose at 7 (under the first day of daylight savings time) it had cleared - and for most of today the sky was a cloudless, rich blue.
I arose early to wander back up the hill to the church, because it had been too late the night before for photographs. After breakfast at our hotel we headed off for Monaco, planning to visit the casino before continuing on to Nice and Cannes. We took a longer route to Monaco, following the coastline along Cape Menton - a beautiful but hilly route along a boulevard lined with mansions, palm trees, cactus gardens, and spectacular shoreline with views back toward Menton and ahead toward Monaco.
Monaco itself is both strikingly beautiful and extremely elegant. It's cliff-rimmed harbor provides an exquisite setting, with fine homes perched on an hanging over the cliffs below. Monte Carlo is surrounded by wonderful palm and cactus gardens, graceful architecture, sculptures, and of course the ocean. The entire area has the feeling of a luxurious integrated art work. It also of course exudes the aura of wealth. On one corner of the main street through town for example are showcases for Rolls Royce, Bentley and Jaguar.
For all this, Monte Carlo was a bit of a disappointment because the casinos did not open until some hours after we arrived. Rachael was really looking forward to losing some money here - but not enough to tie up the day waiting for them to open at the expense of time on the beach.
We had planned to stay close to the shore for our ride down to Nice, but the low road was barricaded for the day for some reason, forcing us up the Cliffside to the village of Eze (along the middle corniche, we were later to learn). Eze is a striking village, crowning a small, conical knob high above the ocean. This proved to be a very beautiful route - both for the view of Eze and later for the stunning panoramas of the Cote de Azur and Nice. It was easily worth the long climb, making us feel lucky to have been diverted to it.
On the drop to Nice we had a delightful and inspirational encounter with a solo woman cyclist while we were all stopped to appreciate the view. Perhaps 60 years of age, she is a former French teacher from southern California enjoying her first year of retirement. It sounded as though she has been cycling in Europe for many years, often as a tour leader. She was obviously in terrific shape, both physically and mentally.
From there we coasted all of the way into Nice, where we decided to stop to allow plenty of time for leisure. We were fortunate to find a good, modestly priced room only two blocks from the beach. Actually, it found us - its manager made a sales pitch to us from his doorway, easily luring us in. We spent the next two hours at the beach with the crowds - Rachael sunbathing, I swimming out past the breakers bobbing around in the warm sea. It was great.
Later, we walked off to view the Russian Orthodox cathedral. A very colorful 1912 construction, it was founded by Czar Nicolas II in honor of his brother who was buried nearby after dying in 1865 at the age of 21. Unfortunately, shorts are not permitted inside so we contented ourselves with an exterior view. Afterwards we wandered back to the shore, and completed our day with large, complex salads at a sidewalk café.
Today's ride: 40 km (25 miles)
Total: 1,474 km (915 miles)
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