We left early in the morning from about 100 miles north of Lyon. For the first half of the day we road again through French country side. Absolutely beautiful. Stunning fields with quaint villages every 1/2 hour or so. The nice thing about motorcycling is you really feel and smell the environment around you as you ride... When you pass the vineyards you smell the grapes.... When you pass the grain fields you smell the wheat, and when you pass the dairies you know where B.S. comes from.... It was also VERY hot today and we felt every degree of the 98 degree heat.
That afternoon we left the valley and road up in the southern end of the French Alps. They are not the tall mountains like you imagine but extraordinarily beautiful!
Lush forests, lush green meadows with colorful wild flowers and the most picturesque villages along the way. Every time we came around a bend and saw a mountain top meadow I expected to see Julie Andrews skipping through the field singing "The Hills Are Alive With the Sound of Music!".. The mountains were also a nice break from the heat. .....
That afternoon we dropped down into another valley. It was a modern freeway leading right down the the coast so the riding was nothing special and most of the cities along the way were fairly modern.. but the valley had cliffs on both sides and all along the way built into the cliffs and atop were ancient forts, castles, towns, and churches. An amazing combination of modern and ancient.....
Finally we got down the coast around 6pm but unfortunately Duane's GPS gave us a wrong turn and we wound up on the beach road through Nice! The traffic was horrendous so it added another hour to the trip but I have to say we felt pretty cool cruzing this very World Class resort. I expect to see celebrities everywhere!
Eventually after 11 1/2 hours of riding we made it to our hotel!! I was so excited.. It has been my dream since I was a kid to see Monaco. Of course I would have preferred if it was the Grand Prix weekend but I was excited! As I got to my room my phone rang and it was Jay Leno calling me to tell me that another one of our videos just went live and in the first hour had over 8000 hits, but the real excitement was when he asked me what I was up to? How many times can you answer, "Oh Jay I am in Monaco, France, been riding my motorcycle around Europe"..... I think I impressed him for once...My 15 minutes of fame is now up to 17.....
Here is a link to the video if you want to see it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzUTWppkjFw
That evening we went out and had a great traditional Nice seafood dinner and lots of good French wine. Luckily the restaurant was next to our hotel so no motorcycling involved....
As a side note I am riding a BMW GS1200 Adventure motorcycle. I have road it all over the western USA, down to Mexico City, and up to Alaska and over all it is a GREAT motorcycle, but it does have one tiny flaw... The seat is only slightly softer than a 2x4" plank! After almost twelve hours on the saddle I feel like I was kicked in the ass by a really angry mule! When I ride this bike it takes about a week and then my butt gives up the fight and conforms to the rectangular shape of the seat and it is bearable...
Tomorrow is a no riding day, it is off to Monaco and do some serious sight seeing!
For more photos go to my blog. Tomorrow I will take LOTS of photos..
Thats all for now...
Jason
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