Day
12: A Nice Evening in Nice; Moustiers-Ste-Marie to Nice in France
May 11, 2012; Distance covered
today: 63 Km; Total: 895 Km
I
went to bed very late last night. By the time I updated my blog and fixed
something to eat, it was already 1:30 am! Today was a very sunny hot day! I was
sweating as I was packing my stuff, so you can imagine how I biked in this
mountainous region in a hot sunny day. When packing finished and I was ready to
go, I stopped at the campground office to say goodbye to my friend and change a
50-Euro bill. Again, he was very friendly and talked about my trips and all. He
went on my blog and read some parts. He didn’t agree with “French Lunch break”
that I had written the other day. But that was what had happened to me. We agreed
to disagree. There are two cats in the campground which are very friendly, and
sometimes come to you for a pat or something. I enjoyed staying there specially
talking to the friendly staff. He was very funny and would try to correct my
broken French.
I
left the campground at about 11:30. I went to a beautiful lake called, Lac Du
Saint Cassien. The lake was exactly on my route I had chosen, so I had to
double back when I saw the lake. The lake was very beautiful and very well
preserved. There was no property or anything around it, and there was no access
to the water either. You could only take pictures from afar.
My
pattern for biking today was that I would climb up a hill for fifteen minutes
or so, and then there would be downhill. I would stand on the pedals to let the
air go through my shirt and shorts and dry my sweat, then again, climb and
climb. If a climb was too long, I would stop under some shade for a couple of
minutes to stop sweating.
 |
| The Friendly Staff at the Campground |
It
could feel that my legs needed a break. I don’t exactly know how many days I
have been riding without a break—was it five or six? I was not as strong and my
left knee had started to feel funny.
The
route was absolutely beautiful, like the day before, mountains and forests,
very scenic. After getting to the town called Grasse, it was all downhill to
Nice. The traffic got heavier and heavier. Now, it really looked like Chaloos
Road in Iran.
 |
| Lac Du Saint Cassien |
In
Nice, I went to the tourist office, and got maps and some names of the hostels.
The first hostel I found, I checked in. I am in a three-bedded room, one bunker
bed. I am going to stay here for another day, not that it is a great place but
because my legs do need some rest.
 |
| Lac Du Saint Cassien |
 |
| Me in Nice |
After
taking a shower, I had the second egg sandwich I had prepared for lunch and
went out for a walk. I sat by the sea and listened to the waves washing off the
gravel beach of Nice. I then took a stroll when I saw a young couple trying
their best to squeeze themselves to fit in a photo they were trying to take of
themselves. I asked them if they would like me to take a picture of them. And
it started there. We ended up talking for two hours or so. I took their picturess,
they took mine. They had a new LG cell phone which took 3D pictures. They
explained the features of the cell phone and showed me some of their pictures.
The pictures were really cool. It was like you were there looking at the real
scene. They did a good job convincing me to get a 3D camera. Yuriy and Alla
were from Ukraine, so I told them about my initial plan to cycle through their
country. They were so disappointed that I had changed my plan. After convincing
me to buy a 3D camera, then they convinced me to go to Ukraine.
 |
| Evening View in Nice |
 |
| Yuriy and Alla |
Again,
with one little routine thing, offering someone to take their pictures, I got
to meet some really interesting people. So far, I have been lucky to have met
so many nice people on this trip, and finding these nice people and leaving
with a good spirit, even for a short time, is why I do what I am doing.
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| A Statue in the middle of Old Town |
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