to Grand Bornand

description coming soon

to Chapieux

description coming soon.

to Lanslebourg

to les Monêtiers-les-Bains

description coming soon.

to Saint-Paul-sur-Ubaye

description coming soon.

to Saint-Etienne-de-Tinée

08H30 Departure from the town of Nice. Nicolas waves farewell as I am speeding down the Valrose. Then comes l'avenue Jean Medecin and la promenade des Anglais, full of people running, walking and cycling back and forth. At the airport Nice Côte d'Azur I turn right toward the jagged line on the horizon. The industrial part of the vallée de la Tinée is not too nice. But eventually after a few hooks and tunnels the things become much nicer. There is less cars and more rock.
13H15 Saint-Sauveur-de-Tinée (500m) - a stop for a beer and soda. The wind is getting stronger and the sky is partially covered with dark, grey clouds.
15H00 Isola - stop for a mug of fresh raspberries, bought from a friendly, elder guy. Who also gives me some precious informations about campings and restaurants ahead.
17H00 Saint-Etienne-de-Tinée (1100 m). Camping "du plan d'eau". I meet a fellow cycling tourist Andrew, a South-African, living in London. This guy is really courageous : not much training, simple equipement, yet he has done "la route de Grandes Alpes" from Switzerland to this place through the highest passes in Europe. He looks approprietly exhausted, with sunburnt face and tired but happy eyes. The supposedly best place for a dinner in the vicinity : "resto des Amis" is closed. So we have our load of pasta, along with a cool conversation in a little restaurant, not far from the camping.
Daily technical data : distance : 98 km / cycling time : 5H56 / average speed : 16,5 km/h / max speed : 45 km/h / total : 785 km / 44 hours

Nice to Geneva

After one relaxing day with my friends in Nice (thanks Nico&Basia) it is time to set off.
Tomorrow in the morning I will leave Nice for Alpine route.

Après une journée tranquile à Nice (merci Nico&Basia) il est temps de partir.
Demain matin je vais quitter Nice pour la partie alpine.

Po spokojnym dniu w Nicei (dzieki Nico&Basia) czas uderzyc w droge.
Jutro rano opuszcze Nicee droga alpejska.

warm-up is finished, what's coming next..

Today I am going to take a ferry to Nice.
In two days I will start the next stage ; cycling through the Alps.

Aujourd'hui je vais prendre le ferry pour Nice.
Après demain je vais commencer l'étape suivante : la traversée des Alpes.

Dzisiaj wsiadam na prom do Nicei.
Pojutrze zaczynam kolejny etap podrozy : przez Alpy.

quick synthesis

Total : 670 km in 5,5 days
over 37 hours of cycling
average speed : 17,8 km/h

Corsica tour was exactly what it was supposed to be - a warm up and invaluable experience, as I am not a cyclist.
I understood, that if I was about to complete the project I should use less energy per day, hence cycle less and have more rest :-)
The state of my backside gives me some concern, so I have to use anti-chafing cream and wear really comfortable cycling shorts.

Day 6 - short leg against the wind to Calvi

Day 5 - Cap Corse - back to the western coast