To Menton

May 1, 2025

With another amazingly summery day and with only an easy 18 mile along the coast to Menton and with sundown not till around eight we have plenty of time to fit our ride in anywhere we want. We enjoyed our meal at Nando's yesterday well enough that we decided to go there again for an early lunch. They don't open until noon and we have to vacate our apartment at eleven so we have an hour to kill. We do so by sitting around on a shady bench in the ribbon park just outside our window.

Admiring the antics of the rock pigeons. We'll make a birder out of Rocky yet!

Kirsten and Lyle remind me that we're not getting enough dog shots in the blog. We'll try to do better.

We enjoy our meal at Nando's just as much today as we did yesterday. They have a nice menu, it's on a quiet, largely pedestrianized street lined with former palaces, and it has an appealing staff. The woman I assume is the owner stops by to ask about our travels since we're obviously biking today, so that opens up an extended conversation. When we leave she offers us a limoncello which I regretfully decline, so instead she sends us packing with three fresh lemons. I have a feeling that if we came back to Sanremo in a couple of years (which I'd be happy to do, btw), I have the sense that she'd remember us.

With the Caesar salad behind us, we move on to risotto with boletes and that impressively colorful pizza.

Let's have a closer look. Smoked salmon, tomatoes and arugula. Half went into the pannier for tonight's dinner.

We sat around the restaurant for another hour after our meal with me nursing an Americano while we browsed our electronics, but finally at two it was time to coast down to the waterfront for the easy 18 mile ride ahead. We alerted our host in Menton that we'd arrive sometime between 3:30 and 4, but in fact we didn't show until 6:30. And the ride wasn't anywhere as easy or enjoyable as we expected.

I'd say it was a 50/50 sort of ride: about half was the delightful cruise along the French/Italian Riviera I'd imagined, and the other half wasn't. The good: the Sanremo waterfront, the famous Capo Nero Galleria, the mile long tunnel honoring the Milano-to-Sanremo bike race we rode through in the other direction two days ago, and the waterfront through Bordighera.

The bad: the four miles between Capo Nero and Bordighera and the miles between Bordighera and Ventimiglia, when we were forced back on to the narrow, shoulderless two lane coastal road with its too fast, too impatient drivers. After both of these sections we agreed that we'll never ride them again, or this entire distance between Nice and Sanremo. If we come back to the Riviera again some winter we'll start in Sanremo and head east toward somewhere like Finale Ligurian instead.

The perplexing: the long, slowed-to-a-crawl traffic jam as we approached the French border; perplexing until we came to the border and found it manned by border patrol that was stopping every car, possibly screening for illegals immigrants. As we were approaching the border I reminded Rachael of two previous times we crossed it: the first was in 1993, when we still had to present our passports; and seven years ago when we stayed in an apartment in the eastern outskirts of Menton and Rachael had to walk back across the border into Italy to the nearest convenience store.

The exasperating: the slow last two miles into Menton, fighting a combination of dense car and tour bus traffic when we were biking on the street, and slow, dense foot traffic on the pedestrian paths when we weren't. We weren't really expecting this, because we've never seen Menton other than well off high season when it's been relatively quiet and pleasant. Menton is a gorgeous place, but I don't think we'd come here at this time of year again. It's just too large and too popular. Sanremo has a much more appealing scale for what we're looking for these days.

Aah, Bordighera! No photos for the previous stressful four miles, but the video gives the idea.

Looking across the mouth of the Roia at old Bentimglia. No pics for the previous miles or the next few to come either, but this spot was nice.

I was excited to have a reason to break out the camera, but it was just a swarm of about forty yellow-legged gulls.

I was surprised by all the snow looking up the Roia. That must be one of the peaks of the Mercantour, but I can't figure out which one,

Sound track: Blues in Time, by Gerry Mulligan and Paul Desmond

We stopped for gelato as soon as we reached town, which helped some but not enough. We were both hot, tired and in ill humor once we finally found our place and made our way up to our room on the sixth floor in another of those elevators too small to just roll your bike on. At least this time we didn't pin my helmet to the mat.

All was forgiven though when we entered our room and looked out the window, our jaws simultaneously dropping at the stunning view. We're staying on the top floor of a six story apartment complex, with a large patio overlooking the mountains and sea. Four night of this should go down easy.

This was intended to bookend the May Day moon shot Lyle and a Kirsten showed us from Cres this morning. It's not nearly as good a shot though. It would have been better if the moon was lower on the horizon.

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Today's ride: 18 miles (29 km)
Total: 448 miles (721 km)

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Graham FinchI'm sure I stayed in Menton many years ago -- in the Youth Hostel.
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7 hours ago

Rich FrasierMay 1st seems to be a zoo anywhere touristy in France. Look out for next Thursday the 8th, too. Another holiday. People typically stretch a Thursday holiday into a 4 day weekend so Friday and Saturday will be busy in tourist spots, too.
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4 hours ago