Day Seven

The last day of these trip is a mix of emotions. Can't say I really love camping - so I look forward to getting home and a bed, but, I love the rhythm you get into the mountains - the daily engagement with a challenge. Then there's the peace and quite and the vastness; but there's the face contorting pain of the 12% hairpins, there are the flies; there is the merciless sun. There are the coffees at a hillside café; the joy at reaching the top; the exhilaration of the 40mph descent.

So, out of Sospel, straight south towards Menton and the Cote d'Azur. There was a choice, so I thought, of the D2566 or D2566a. The former rose up to the Col de Castillion at 707m, the last col on the Route des Garnd Alpes, while the latter, er, didn't. I was a bit perplexed by this since both roads started at the same roundabout, went in the same direction and melded into one another again a few miles south. We'd had it with cols so we took the low road, passing a sign that seemingly forbade cyclists, with one of those unambiguous signs of a bicycle within a red bordered sign, to go any further. Walkers were also interdit. In spite of a further hint - a green cycle route sign pointing to the Col, we carried on along the low road and forgot about the road sign. It was a very pleasant road - hilly but not too demanding, with forests and the like. Nice view as usual until we saw the tunnel and the road sign forbidding cyclists and walkers to enter. We've done plenty of tunnels in our time and some were real scary: the one with no lights on the Tarn; the death traps on the Stelvio. This didn't look that bad even though it was half a mile long. We had a cheeky look about to see if any one watching, switched on our lights then belted through. There was no police cordon of flashing lights and high powered rifles at the other end so we breathed a sigh of relief and carried on down to the sea.


The sea, the sea. The Côte d'Azur was waiting for us as we descended to sea level through Menton. On the IGN map the D2566 is brown by this stage - the same  colour as the horror story that took us into Nice down the Le Var valley a few years back. The D2566 is a good road to finish off on and safely delivers you to the D52, also known as the Promenade du Soleil, which along with a variety of beach-hugging roads takes you all the way to Nice through the whole shebang of excess of Monte Carlo and adjacent cheap imitators.

It is quite a ride with plenty of traffic going this way and that and if you don't keep an eye out you can end up going all over the place despite the presence of the rather handy landmark - the Med. There are tunnels galore too, so keep the lights handy.

 

 

We found a Casino in Monte Carlo - the shop, not a gambling den, and procured a bottle of red for the post check-in relaxation.
Check-in with the bike is a lot less stressful on the way back as we usually arrive with plenty of time and if the bikes don't arrive with us, the holiday won't be discombooberated.

Arrived back to drizzle and the £21.50 HEX fare.