From Barcelona to Tehran: Day 13

Day 13: “Au Revoir” Fantastic France, “Chao” Melodic Italy; From Nice in Spain to Savona in Italy 

        

May 12, 2012; Distance covered today:  90 Km; Total: 985 Km

Breakfast was provided by the hostel. It was milk, cereal, baguette, tea, orange juice, jam, and coffee. As I was having my breakfast, a guy sat at my table. I saw that he was carrying his handle bar with him. I greeted him and started a casual conversation. “Do you travel by bike?” I asked. And that was the beginning of a day-long ride together.

Laid-back Ride in the Morning

Thomas is from Germany. He has travelled a lot in the States and Europe. On this trip, he is riding to the Corsica, a French island. He wants to ride along the Italian coast to a town close to Milan and then take a ferry to the Corsica.

Monaco and the Race

Goodbye France, Hello Italy

Since he was doing part of my route, I decided to keep riding although my legs needed a rest.  The problem was that he had not planned to camp so he did not have his tent or sleeping bag with him. He had to find a different kind of accommodation.

Did you know that Monaco was an independent country not a city in France?! I didn’t. When we got to France, we realized that the streets are being closed down to prepare for a car racing competition, something like Formula One! It was very exciting. I was very much tempted to stay in Monaco and watch the race, but the problem was that the race would start at 3 pm and finish at 8 pm, during which all streets would be closed, and if I had stayed to watch the race, I would have had to go to a hotel. I wouldn’t have had time to ride out of the city to find a campground. So… with some regret, I left the city/country.  

We took it easy as we were riding. We were not in a hurry. The scenery was absolutely beautiful. It was very hot though. At about 7:30, we managed to find a campground where we rented a bungalow for the night. I paid 10 Euros and Thomas paid 40.