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The Riviera
Toulon, France - Saturday, May 29 John: We've arrived. We're on the Riviera. It's Saturday morning and we spent all night on the train. This is the quaint ville of Toulon, just east of Marseilles. A new locale, a new energy. The time is 10AM and it's time for a celebration. Will you do the honors, Dick?
Dick: It's hard to be discrete when you're opening a bottle of wine in the middle of a park. John: And, here goes the cork... Dick, why don't you pour wine for every guy in the park wearing a beret? Dick: They don't have any cups. John: Taking in the ambience here... behind us are mountains, always an ominous sign to bikers. Salt is in the air. We saw the sea... the Mediterranean, that is... from the train when we arrived. What's your description of this place?
John: A rather strange mixture of people on the streets. Classy rich people, old men with the berets... then, you've got your African guys selling trinkets. They peddle hand carved elephants, leather bags and belts. They can say "How Much You Pay?" in eight languages. We checked into a hotel but our room won't be ready until noon. That's why we're wasting time in the park here. It's a really cheap hotel and... uh oh, Dick's starting to spill the wine already. That's what you get when you drink in the morning. Ask any of those guys with berets. Dick: But they can hold their stuff. John: Oh yeah? Then why are they wearing berets in this heat? We took a walk along the piers, and promenade. There were a lot of boats and seafood for sale. Sidewalk cafes with many strolling couples. But, you know, it's not sunny. St.
Tropez, France - Sunday, May 30 John: So... here we are... now in St. Tropez. We followed the coast. Actually a pretty nice ride, for once. No rain, interesting scenery, no major climbs... would you have a single word to describe today's trip?
John: I have an ant crawling in my shorts. Dick: ...No, not a single word. I'll give you a few words on it. We had the Mediterranean Sea on our right as we were winding up and down little coves. You have the little tourist resort towns with people hanging out on the beach. John: It's true, just as the postcards say. Women here swim in the nude. I went down to the beach while you napped. I picked a spot between two beautiful Italian girls. Dick: You're just saying that because you know I like Italian girls.
John: Well maybe they were Italian... maybe French... but you'll never know
because you were sleeping. Dick: ...and it's a holiday. John: It's a national holiday. Yay, another holiday for France. I say that sarcastically because holidays are quite annoying. All the stores are closed, including the banks, and the roads get extremely crowded, especially around here near the beach.
Dick: Well, tonight is going to be our first night with the rain fly on the tent as it continues to drizzle here in the land of the sun. The clouds were supposed to stay away but they must have followed us south with the train. John: Yeah, they were wrong when they told us it never rains in the Riviera. It's pretty grim out and the guy at the camp desk said that it was supposed to "pleure une autre jour". One more day at least. Well, tomorrow into town... It is said that St. Tropez is the most pretentious spot on the Riviera and for that reason alone is worth a visit. Dick: I'll have to put on my costume jewelry. * * * * John: We had a nice ride through fashionable Cannes. Went through there in the morning and sat along the "Croscent", the fashionable promenade along the beach where the women show off their Dior dresses. We were sitting there for a while until a guy came over and said we had to pay money to sit there. Being the cheap soles we are, we got up and sat on the side stoop instead. Cannes was quite interesting. "Classy" is the word that hits me. The beaches are raked. Public beaches are rare and private beaches, you have to belong to some club or a hotel to go them. And, all these chaise lounges at the restaurants in back of them. We passed the actual spot where the Allied Army entered France to finish off the Germans during World War II. There was a staircase there, so it was probably fairly easy for the troops to get up the cliff. :-)
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