In Menton: day one

May 2, 2025

Before dipping into today's exciting adventures, let's lead with a few news items. First, there's the heart-warming fact that the hotel in Ventimiglia we were a no show for because we got off at the wrong train station apparently didn't charge us for the room. We've been monitoring our bank statements for several days until we're sure, but it looks definite now. So that's very nice. I assume they did this because they appreciated us promptly letting them know we wouldn't be coming and they were sympathetic to our situation. Thanks, Calypso hotel!

And there's the exciting news that after a long dry spell I finally added a few birds to the year's roster today. We'll include them upfront so you won't miss them in the events to come.

And then there's this puzzling image that came in the mail this morning:

Interesting, CJ, but Rachael has difficulty with directions and gets disoriented easily. I'm not sure this is helpful.

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So let's get on with today. It begins promisingly enough:

It's another summery day, with highs of near 80 expected. We should get an early start.

We're both enthusiastic about our respective plans for the day. Rachael is taking an ambitious walk - 13 miles, to the Decathalon store in Monaco where they said they're holding a Garmin Edge 1040 for her to replace the Edge 1030 plus she's been using since hers quit functioning several weeks ago. She really prefers the newer model and was pleased to find a place that had it in stock. It's a long walk with a fair amount of climbing, but that doesn't daunt her at all. She's more concerned about the fact that she doesn't see any restrooms along the way, but I assure her that something will work out. It always does, says the voice of guy experience.

As it turns out, 'guy experience' isn't quite relevant in this case, and she spends some tense, frustrating miles wandering through a crowded, exposed loo-free zone until finally finding relief in a pastry cafe. So that's frustrating. More frustrating though is that the promised Garmin isn't there waiting for her after all that. Fortunately she gets great service from the man she works with there, and manages to order one to be delivered at the Nice store that she can hopefully pick up when we're there next week.

And, she doesn't really care for a Monaco itself. Too busy, too - Monaco, I guess. And the walk ends up longer than she expected because the mapped route doesn't work out well in several spots. She ends up with 15 miles, which is getting out of her comfort range. So keep all that in mind when you look at the photos she brought back, which make it look like an excellent hike to me. There's more here than meets the eye.

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My ride didn't go quite as planned either, even though Rachael and I aced the problem of getting on the right side of all the locked doors with all our devices and essentials in our possession. We're staying in another spot with only a single set of keys so we have to coordinate the day, and we start by leaving together to make sure that no one (me, primarily) has spaced out again. And once we're on the sidewalk we validate that we can phone each other and see each other on our Garmins so we won't have trouble communicating and locating each other when the time comes to meet on the waterfront for lunch in five hours.

There's only one problem though, a unique one in my experience - my Garmin route is screwed up, in a way that we've never seen before. It looks like the right route, named for the out and back climb to the high corniche, but the route itself is off - it looks like Rachael's route to Monaco, even though it shows the correct 28 mile length. It's like it got saved as a blend somehow.

So that's baffling and concerning, but it forces me into the best use of the day - a walking tour of old Menton, that I planned to take tomorrow anyway. Today is better though because the lighting and visibility is so good, and also because it's such a hot day. Better to take the hill climb when it's cooled off a bit.

So my big ride turns into a photo crawl with bike, with plenty of time to stop and look anywhere I choose, hope to spot a few birds (as I did, shown above), and stop for quiche and an espresso to kill some time while I wait for Rachael to make it down off the mountain.

And I love getting such a good look at the warren-like old city, re-experiencing one of my favorite memories from our first tour of Europe over thirty years ago. I start by taking my time along the waterfront, admiring the famously scenic city and surroundings viewed from below.

And then I make my way up through the old city to the stunning basilica that I remember from that first visit - it's one of the images we blew up and framed to hang on the wall of our condo for 15 years. And it really is stunning, because it's been beautifully renovated and really gleams. I remember being disappointed when we stayed in Menton seven years ago on our first vagabond tour and found it under scaffolding.

First though I have to make my way up there, which with a bike is no easy matter. Most people walk up and down the glorious Escher-like staircase that rises up from the old town, stopping along the way for shots of the scene and themselves. That won't work for me and my bike, but I find a short-cut that saves me a few miles of roadwork, one that is steep but manageable until it too turns to a footpath with about sixty stairs at the end. The knees groan, but that close to the top I'm not turning back.

Finally though I limp up the last few stairs using my bike as a walker and enjoy the relief of smooth pavement and a reasonable gradient. And the views. I'm not disappointed, and feel like I've earned the right to them, arriving like a pilgrim at the end of a long, arduous ride trek.

And then I climb up a little higher to walk through the cemetery, a spot that must rank as among the most scenic spots in Europe to spend your afterlife, giving myself a pat on the back for remembering to bring the lock with me.

So that's my day. I've still got an hour or two until Rachael's due in so I head back to the waterfront and find a snack stand with tables in the shade and nurse a bottle of water as free price of admission until it's time to pedal over to our restaurant and meet up for lunch with my weary, starving partner. We enjoy sitting in a table in the shade, following a Caesar salad with grilled salmon for Rachael and swordfish surprise for myself. A surprise, because the server told us that swordfish was the fish of the day but what he brought wasn't at all swordfishy. It was more Dover soleish, which I pointed out but he insisted it was swordfish - but then his English isn't particularly good so it was probably a translation issue. And in fact I'd seen that Dover sole was posted as the day's special and it's what I wanted anyway.

And then we stopped back at the same gelateria we gave business to yesterday for another round, and then returned to our room to crash and loaf for the rest of the day. The end.

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Today's ride: 6 miles (10 km)
Total: 454 miles (731 km)

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Karen PoretThanks! We are all pooped😅
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