THE ROUTE

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Thursday, July 2, 2009

Day 8 - Puget Theniers - Valbonne









This morning I discovered the little altimeter/ computer I have been using had died – guess it did not appreciate the rain from the thunderstorm last night. Neither did I over the top of the col – arrived completely soaked and cold at the auberge. So I can only estimate roughly from the map that the height cimb was around 5,000ft. Two main cols, smaller than previous ones as the mountains are not as high in the far south but with a lot of up and down in between. Col St Raphael at 875 metres and Col de Bleine at 1439 metres. As expected the back roads over the last mountains were tough, lots of up and down and incredibly hot – that is until the thunder clouds gathered again. Must have been well over 30 degrees C with no breeze. Scenery was exceptional though – mountains cut through by deep gorges with sheer slopes and villages hanging to the sides of the valleys. By the time I reached the last col it was raining hard and the rain continued all the way down a huge 15 mile descent over 1,200 metres – through yet 2 more gorges. By the time I reached Valbonne, a very pretty village with lots of restaurants within a few kilometers of the coast food and accommodation beckoned so I called it a day. Dinner at a great restaurant in the centre of Biot – an artistic village a few miles away. The restaurant itself had its own gallery in the cellar – donations from artists the owner had befriended over the years.





Thur 2 July – morning. We have found the French equivalent of Fawlty Towers the main residents it appears are very old and fat dogs and cats. As I write this at the breakfast table on the patio one of the dogs has just lifted its leg on the plant pot next to the table….

In a short while I’ll take a gentle cruise for the last few kilometers down to the coast and celebrate with a drink at one of the shore side bars – maybe at Cannes. I’ll do a complete summary of the ride in a day or so.

Total climbed to date – (estimate only as the stupid machine died): 50,000ft

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