Trip to INRIA, Nice
With the very accurate description of the way I got from the people in the hotel, I quickly found the Skewed Tower. And did it right before the police could install their detour signs to lure tourist drivers to the huge parking spaces far away from the tower. They were just pulling them out of their trunks...
Luckily I found a spot, just large enough for my bike with the tower in line of sight :D.
I parked the bike and walked around like a tourist. In the light of the rising sun the tower looked really bright and of course I made my tourist picture :P.
I tried the extremely crowded SS1 towards Nice but it is one endless city area with stop&go and my air cooled Q suffered big time. So I took the expensive autostrada to Genova.
I didn't see enough of Genova to decide whether I like it or not. The hills are overcrowded with buildings and there are not many trees, what I don't like, but many different and old buildings. For sure it is interesting and I need to have another look at that city.
Traffic in Genova is really crazy. Apparently nobody cares about rules, maybe red lights are honoured if they shine for quite a wile. But everybody takes a little bit care of himself and much to my surprise it works and traffic flows. A strong engine and strong brakes help a lot...
The overall impression of Genova is that the city feels very alive. Much like an anthill. I blended the stream of motorised ants for half an hour without the slightest chance of finding a parking spot, gave up and returned to the "auto strada"...
Meanwhile the sun reached her full power. According to the electric signs on the auto strada, up to 29°C. So I stopped, removed the lining of my jacked and switched to my summer gloves :D
As I could see the Rivera from the highway I gave it another try near a place called Pietra, some 50 kilometres after Genova. The traffic was still lively, but at least there were little spaces between the villages. And those spaces were pretty much how I imagined my trip to be:
Nice curvy roads along the Mediterranean :D. Only some palm trees once in a while between me and the beach or the cliffs ... :D.
After a nice ride along the coast, frequently interrupted by towns with stuffed roads and traffic jams, but still nice for the most part, I finally reached France. I don't know what I expected of the "border" between Italy and France, but two small deserted white cottages and a few lines on the road were the only indication that I just entered a different country. A little bit odd and way to quick to realise it and take a picture ;-). At least some colourful village came into sight and invited me to take a picture. I think it is called "Menton."
The only obvious change from Italian traffic was that the roads appeared deserted. Way less traffic than in Italy. Maybe the fees for the highways in France are cheaper than in Italy :P.
Minor changes include licence plates that now had yellow background (at least the ones on the back of the cars. The one on the front still appear to be white?!) and the drivers paid more attention to speed limits and traffic rules in general. The closer I got to Nice the more the last observation faded away...
Also French cars appear to have more buckles and dents than the cars in Italy :P.
At 18:00 o'clock, after almost 10 hours on the bike, I finally reached my Bed&Breakfast hostel. And got a map of Nice from the owner, which would have had simplified finding the hostel in the first place ;-).
My first "French" dinner came from the local supermarket: Roquefort cheese, Cornicons and Cidre :D. I will sleep like a stone.
Luckily I found a spot, just large enough for my bike with the tower in line of sight :D.
I parked the bike and walked around like a tourist. In the light of the rising sun the tower looked really bright and of course I made my tourist picture :P.
I tried the extremely crowded SS1 towards Nice but it is one endless city area with stop&go and my air cooled Q suffered big time. So I took the expensive autostrada to Genova.
I didn't see enough of Genova to decide whether I like it or not. The hills are overcrowded with buildings and there are not many trees, what I don't like, but many different and old buildings. For sure it is interesting and I need to have another look at that city.
Traffic in Genova is really crazy. Apparently nobody cares about rules, maybe red lights are honoured if they shine for quite a wile. But everybody takes a little bit care of himself and much to my surprise it works and traffic flows. A strong engine and strong brakes help a lot...
The overall impression of Genova is that the city feels very alive. Much like an anthill. I blended the stream of motorised ants for half an hour without the slightest chance of finding a parking spot, gave up and returned to the "auto strada"...
Meanwhile the sun reached her full power. According to the electric signs on the auto strada, up to 29°C. So I stopped, removed the lining of my jacked and switched to my summer gloves :D
As I could see the Rivera from the highway I gave it another try near a place called Pietra, some 50 kilometres after Genova. The traffic was still lively, but at least there were little spaces between the villages. And those spaces were pretty much how I imagined my trip to be:
Nice curvy roads along the Mediterranean :D. Only some palm trees once in a while between me and the beach or the cliffs ... :D.
After a nice ride along the coast, frequently interrupted by towns with stuffed roads and traffic jams, but still nice for the most part, I finally reached France. I don't know what I expected of the "border" between Italy and France, but two small deserted white cottages and a few lines on the road were the only indication that I just entered a different country. A little bit odd and way to quick to realise it and take a picture ;-). At least some colourful village came into sight and invited me to take a picture. I think it is called "Menton."
The only obvious change from Italian traffic was that the roads appeared deserted. Way less traffic than in Italy. Maybe the fees for the highways in France are cheaper than in Italy :P.
Minor changes include licence plates that now had yellow background (at least the ones on the back of the cars. The one on the front still appear to be white?!) and the drivers paid more attention to speed limits and traffic rules in general. The closer I got to Nice the more the last observation faded away...
Also French cars appear to have more buckles and dents than the cars in Italy :P.
At 18:00 o'clock, after almost 10 hours on the bike, I finally reached my Bed&Breakfast hostel. And got a map of Nice from the owner, which would have had simplified finding the hostel in the first place ;-).
My first "French" dinner came from the local supermarket: Roquefort cheese, Cornicons and Cidre :D. I will sleep like a stone.
posted by IC at
11:30 AM
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