The Ham Nomads

18 Mar 2015. <FR> Nice, & Villefranche-sur-Mer, Alpes Maritimes —

Woke up in L'Aire d'Estérel with a little noise just behind us. A truckie had pulled in there to replace a shattered tyre, and a support mechanic (presumably from his company) was doing the honours. It didn't look like an easy job, as his axle may have suffered some damage as well!

Well, today is the final spurt towards Villefranche. A lot of tollway driving — we wanted to make it as easy on Suzie and the van as possible, and we know the twists and turns you find in the roads and streets behind the beach in the south of France!

We stopped off in the Aire du Piccolaret, as it was a supposed viewing point for the Mediterranean. Well, it may have been some time in the past, but trees have since grown to occlude virtually any part of the view. Oh well, we know there are great views coming up further along!

We drove along the tollway and into Nice. We caught glimpses of things we would be having a more intimate experience of in a couple of days — the SCNF Station, for example, and a little tourist train. The traffic was chaotic — no surprise — and the density of living was most unappealing to us! But then we were on the road to Villefranche (only a short way further on. We decided, most cheekily, to try for the same viewing point we had used seven years ago.

We had been under the impression that it was on the Moyen Corniche, but when we got to that point on the Moyen Corniche we found we were too high — so we drove down to the Basse Corniche and — guess what! — we found it, and we found that it was just as usable as a stopping point as it had been last time. So we stopped!

Below us we could see the station and the trains we would be using to get to Monte Carlo and to Nice in the next couple of days. And this time we would have time to explore Villefranche itself a bit more extensively!

The view from the van window

Distance driven — today, 58 miles ( 94 km ); to date, 16,259 miles ( 26,167 km )