Vence to Nice - It's late September and I really should be back on tour - CycleBlaze

October 4, 2018

Vence to Nice

A big city by the ocean

Breakfast  today was provided in the hotel dining area. We were alone in the room and perhaps the only guests in Hotel Victore as into October, the vacation season is winding down.  As soon as we left the proprietor was going to shut down for a couple of days so he could take a quick vacation into Italy!  We enjoyed the view of the activity on the street below  from our window seats but after Scott's third cup of coffee it was time to see the old city in the daylight. It's another medieval town.  Can you see too many?  We do not think so!

A view looking north above Vence. Lots of riding challenges up there.
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Scott AndersonYou stayed in Hotel Victoire! We just booked ourselves for 5 nights there as a base for day rides at the end of our tour. After we booked I decided to see if anyone else had been here, and found youse guys. We’ll be thinking of you.
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1 year ago
Scott FenwickTo Scott AndersonI have a hard enough time remembering names of towns let alone names of hotels. But I do remember Vence as having a very nice old town area. It looks like a good place to organize a base from, although hilly from what I recall. Glad you will be thinking of me - as I watch the rain falling out my window- wishing that I was there! I see that you and Rachael will have nice warm sunny days to enjoy the rides and the hiking. You are both very lucky.
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1 year ago
I love seafood and the displays here are so inviting. Scallops, sardines and mackeral.
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If only the camera had a smell recorder. Sort of a scratch and sniff. You could enjoy this so much more than visually.
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Appears to be part of a screw system to crush grapes. Scott just marvels at the craftsmanship.
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This is for our skiing buddies back home. A place for us to hang out in Vence!! And we are told the ski hills are only an hour away. Chamonix only 5 hours north.
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Gate into town looking out from the inside of the old city.
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A pretty arch way.
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Church inside the walls.
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Another rock alleyway.
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Decorative fountain just inside the gates of the old town.
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Pat filling up the water bottles just before we leave. This fountain had potable water - we checked and it tasted great.
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We returned to our hotel  and we made a last minute routing adjustment to Nice based on the hotel manager's recommendation. Good bye to the mountains and  basically a straight downhill to the ocean; then a 10 kms ride along the ocean cycle promenade into Nice.  Excellent choice!

It was a fast downhill -although shared with traffic.  The Cannes - Antibes - Nice area has no quiet back roads!  A quick stop at the Spar grocery store on the way provided groceries for our picnic by the Mediterranean. Life is good!

Tourrettes-sur-Loup from the other side. It is great to be cycling because you can stop and admire these wonderful sights while people in cars only get a quick glance at the spectacular views as they travel along.
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At sea level we were met with a fierce 45 - 65 km headwind. Neither of us complained though as the experience of the ride along the Mediterranean seawall  into Nice will be forever memorable. It is also part of the EV8 cycle route.

We are on the coast now. Big waves and wind. Perfect for windsurfing although we only saw two sailors out there.
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Ev8 - the right place.
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Maybe the prettiest cycle route anywhere?
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Scott AndersonCould be, alright. We rode this to the airport early one morning in July, years ago. At 5 in the morning it was already a lively scene and a volleyball game was underway on the beach.
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5 years ago
Love the colours of the Mediterranean!!
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Hooking up with our Airbnb host was an issue, but once complete we decided to cocoon for the night- read "blog update".  Nice will be there tomorrow .... and we will be here for two more days.....time to chill, we have been going hard this past week.

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Today's ride: 26 km (16 miles)
Total: 429 km (266 miles)

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KAREN JONESWe are sitting in bed on a rainy Thanksgiving in North Vancouver living vicariously through your amazing trip! (and, no, it's not sunny in PR)... Stunning photography, cycling terrain, and weather! Keep up the great posts
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5 years ago