This is my first attempt to send a message from Europe to the list. I'm not sure
when I'll actually be able to connect and send it out, but I'll hope for the
best.
Things have been going really well so far. Zen and I arrived in Nice, and then
headed straight for Cannes. We both managed to sleep on the plane, and ended up
with very little jet lag. I think this was helped by some "No Jet Lag"
pills that we took during the flight.
We spent Thursday and Friday wandering around Cannes and putting the bikes back
together. There was also a fair amount of people watching and enjoying fine food
thrown in as well.
On Saturday, we started our cycling at the bright & early hour of 10:30, and
headed along the cote d'azur towards St Raphael. There was a fair amount of
traffic, but the weather and views were superb, and it was a great ride. We then
headed inland to the small town of le Muy where we spent the night. Le Muy is a
very small Medieval looking town, and it was very interesting to walk around.
Lots of narrow little streets, and a lot of interesting people to (try to) talk
to. There was also a great view of the comet from the central square in the
evening.
My French is holding up okay, although it becomes very questionable when I want
to do anything more complicated than buy a bottle of wine, or ask where the
nearest pastry shop is :-)
This morning in le Muy started on an interesting note as we woke up to a
bustling market right outside our door. There was everything for sale including
clothing and fabrics, spices, cheeses, fresh vegetables and fruits, various
cooked foods, and even mattresses.
Once we made it onto the bikes (at around 11:30), we cycled from Le Muy to a
town called Briagnole. It was another gorgeous day ... totally sunny and quite
hot. We rode over rolling hills and through vineyards and olive orchards, as
well as through plenty of cute little villages (all with pastry and cheese
shops). Briagnole is a much bigger town than le Muy, but still very medieval
looking, and also with lots of narrow little passageways that are interesting to
walk around. Neither town has been very touristy, and no one has been able to
speak English (a good thing). For dinner tonight, we ate in a little pizzeria
that was hidden in the middle of the tiny little passageways. We entered at
7:30, and interrupted the family right in the middle of dinner. They were
extremely friendly, and served us an awesome pizza with red wine, and followed
by creme brulee for dessert. It was a really fun dinner.
Anyways, I should probably get ready for bed now so that I can get up bright and
early tomorrow (yeah, right) to start another day of riding.
