Marseille to Nice

The ride into Marseille shouldn't have felt long as it was only 30 km, but it's been a long time since we've seen urban sprawl, and the constant checking for directions and errant cars made it feel much longer. Marseille is the second-largest city in France and we'd heard it's got a reputation for being rough around the edges, some of which we saw as we came in through the suburbs through plenty of traffic and broken beer bottles in the streets. We had also been warned about Marseille on that day in particular, as there was a large political meeting — 50,000 people expected — at the rally for the "Bernie Sanders of France" in the old city. (France's elections happen on April 23; if none of the 12 candidates win a majority, then there is a second round between the top two candidates on May 7. We are leaving France on April 18, which means we'll be watching all of this from afar). We dropped our bags at our Airbnb before heading out on suddenly-lighter bikes. We rode by the gathered crowd and saw their energy but generally steered clear as we headed to the old market district of Marseille, Le Panier.

One of our must-dos for Marseille was given to us by a friend of a friend, knife craftsman Dan Linkenheld (friend him on Facebook if you want to be kept up-to-date on his latest work). Dan sent us to visit his friend Jean Pierre Ambrosino's knife shop, the Coutellerie du Panier, in Vieux Marseille. He is indeed wonderful and generous, and he and Joel had a great discussion about his and Dan's Marseillaise-Ontarian collaboration in knife-making. Joel is particularly excited about his tour to Canada next year! We left with a beautiful little knife and his recommendation for the most beautiful place in Marseille for the evening. After wandering through Vieux Marseille, the MuCEM grounds, the old fort and the crowds enjoying the sun, we made it to that most beautiful place in time for sunset — a gorgeous little port full of boats, a bridge, and people enjoying the city. We enjoyed the last rays of sunshine there and then filled our bellies with bouillebaisse and bass before returning to our place late that evening.

The next day we saw a bit more of Marseille and then headed out and up. The combination of an easier grade of hill and better conditioning made the 200+ m climb feel much easier than the 166 m climb into France had been! At one point we passed through an area that had had a wild-fire last year, the blackened trees were still there along with a carpet of yellow flowers! As we were taking pictures we met people foraging for wild asparagus and salad greens, and continued marvelling at the splendour of the Calanques as we continued upward: tall hills, deep gulleys, ancient gravel, and scrub and rosemary growing wild.

We camped in a quiet spot that night and continued on through Cassis, then up and on towards our lunch plans. We changed out of our T-shirts and skintight shorts into more presentable clothes 100 m down the road from our well-reviewed restaurant, and had a wonderful meal with staff who admirably covered their surprise as we rolled up and asked where to park our bikes. After lunch we changed back and continued along the picturesque coast. Our brief stop at a beach perfectly coincided with the one cloudy period of the day, and we admitted defeat and headed out (now back in the late afternoon sunshine) towards and through Toulon. We didn't stop to see the city, but can certainly speak favourably of the extensive continuous cycling paths right from its westmost suburbs through the city to the eastmost suburb towns. I really admire and appreciate the investment in cycling infrastructure in this part of southern France! After camping out again that night, we came across a mid-week farmer's market the next morning and had more sunshine and a picnic on the beach. We continued onwards to more climbing (and Google Maps' first epic fail — our promised path led us to dirt trails on private property and angry men yelling at us to get off their property) but our GPS eventually found us an alternate route and climbed ever upwards into a national forest and its wineries.

The second winery we stopped at had wonderful wine and was stunningly beautiful. We decided to take a chance and ask if they had space on the property to put up a very small tent… and were very fortunate as it turns out that the owner of the Domaine Sainte Marie vineyard is an ardent cyclist, and was happy to have us stay.  This was particularly fortuitous as he was hosting a birthday party for his father that night and we happened to also meet his brother who owns a hotel in Cannes and offered us a 'friends and family' rate if we could make it that far the next day, motivation! We spent a wonderful night there serenaded by sheep, frogs, and birds, and started pushing the next day to make the 90 km to Cannes.

As our host had promised, we were cycling through an incredibly beautiful stretch of landscape: national forest, the sandy beaches of St Tropez, craggy coastline of red rocks against blue sky and azure water. It was gorgeous enough to make all the ups and downs of the coast all worth it!

We arrived in Cannes in time for dinner, and caught a glimpse of the filming of Cannes Ninja Warrior as we wandered through the restaurants, designer shops, high-end hotels and luxury yachts that make up the main stretch of Cannes. The Hotel de Provence was our favourite part of Cannes and we had a wonderful stay.

The ride to Nice was almost entirely beachfront cycleway, with a bonus headwind. Getting into Nice was a bit of a challenge as construction had overtaken the two major roads parallel to the beaches, as well as the beach itself and the cycle paths — everything must be ready before high season! We visited the Matisse museum and wandered the area (much easier to do with unladen bikes) and met Cedric and Estelle that evening. They had brought the fixings for Swiss fondue, which we enjoyed very much. 

The next day we all wandered through Vieille Nice, through the winding roads, up the hill to the park, an back down to the beach. Dinner was amazing, and we finished the night with a friendly (competitive) game of Settlers of Catan. The next morning was more Nice-wandering, and Estelle and I ventured into the chilly sea while the men sunned themselves at a safe distance. Cedric and Estelle headed back to Switzerland, Joel and I visited the Chagall museum and had a dinner of delicious Niçoise street food. ​

Next stops: Monaco, and then on to Italy!

Food of note:

• proper Swiss fondue courtesy of Cedric and Estelle
• authentic French dinner out at Le P'tit Cocotte  with Cedric and Estelle
• all of the Niçoise specialties: pan bagnat, daube polenta, socca, et tarte aux blettes sucrée.