What’s notable about this photo from yesterday in Toulon? I realized that I never saw a French flag on display in Corsica. I suppose they’d get torn down and torched.
We both left our apartment at 9 am, Mel on her last day of cycling this trip, and me needing to return the rental car to the Nice Airport in the late afternoon.
Farewell to our odd but well appointed apartment. The owner provided coffee, tea, sugar, oil, even decaf. And laundry soap for the washer Still, it will get a lousy review due to the odd ‘welcome’ we received yesterday.
There were no cafes nearby, so we both stopped at a mediocre Spar grocery store to pick up some food.
And then I started my drive to Antibes, where I was hoping to hike. There were loads of road bikers out this Sunday morning. Out of maybe 200 cyclists, I noticed only a handful of women. We are more represented on touring bikes, for sure.
After zillions of turns, hundreds of traffic circles, and as many speed limit changes, I arrived in Cap d’Antibes. Remarkably, there was a large area of free parking.
Cap d’Antibes is home to billionaires. The Duke and Duchess of Windsor lived here seasonally. Aristotle Onassis had a house here, pre Jackie. Billionaires or not, they still have a small beach.
The property owners also don’t get shoreline, because of French laws permitting a seaside path. Poor them. On my hike, I always had a big wall on my right and the sea on my left.
The views were amazing once again. And the people watching was good too. This area is only a few km from Nice, and there were a lot more foreigners here. Often in footwear that was completely inappropriate. The trail wasn’t always like a sidewalk - it was tricky going on volcanic rock in places.
The super rich are super private. I’ve decided it must be a bit dull living behind these big gates and having massive security systems. Not that I’ll ever be sure…
After my walk, I was quite hungry, but couldn’t find anywhere to stop my car in Antibes on a busy Sunday. I finally found a grocery store, but it was closed.
So I gassed up the car and returned it early, then ate a sandwich at the Nice airport to celebrate no crashes or dings.
Once I figured out how to exit the airport as a pedestrian I walked to our hotel, meeting up with Mel who arrived only minutes later.
We were both tired and had a mediocre dinner near our hotel.
Mel’s route for today. The second big lump was a gravel adventure.
