32° to 41°C, full sun negligible wind. Zero cloud.
St. Paul de Vence. I missed the turning to the best route. The initial stage had heavy traffic but nothing compared with the last part. There was a steady 5% climb and then turn at the garage to approach the village from the north.
Pont De Loup: a small village below Gourde that appeared on my route just at the time I was out of water. I asked a young local woman about water and she pointed towards a fountain in teh wall so I got my fill. She suggested that water was safe, but frankly, I was so thirsty, I took the risk.
Next I rolled into the village and stopped for an Ice Tea. Then returned to the fountain where the road turns for Bramafan. This is another steady 5% climb which I comfortably chugged along. There are a few tunnels up here, one of which had no lights. Traffic was so light that it didn’t matter. Just before one of the tunnel entrances, I looked up to an amazing sight. A real Mare’s tail of a waterfall.
Gourde this was a relief after St Paul. There were tourists but not excessively. A nice German woman in the tourist info explained about the spring water fountains. Those fountains are regularly tested for safety. So my risk was justified.
Grasse: this stage should have been a chance to raise the average pace from the long climb to Grourde. But here I found rush hour traffic and effectively rode with brakes on most of the time. Another problem was a result of inadequate planning – my map wasn’t that good.
Cannes: horrible heavy traffic. Drivers were reasonable but it was the sheer number of vehicles plus weaving mopeds. Progress was slow, bumper to bumper.
Micycle 