4th July Villeneuve Loubet to Cavalaire sur Mer

As would be the norm for the week ahead I got up at 6.15 and packed up for the road. This takes an hour to do properly and by the time I have breakfast it is eight o'clock. As always it is nice setting off in the cool of the morning but the sun doesn't be long burning and today would be very hot. The road to Antibes was busy in the rush hour but I had no real problem and was given the room.
I diverted to Juan le Pins beach to view the yachts at the marina and followed the path through to Cannes where I stopped for a while and watched the limousines pull up at the Carelton Hotel. It was early morning and the beach was packed; here I had a hot dog and coffee. Following these beach cycle paths was enjoyable but as they weave their way around the little harbours, you make ground very slowly.

At Theoule sur mer there is the first climb and change to more mountainous terrain, thought not too severe I still had to use my lowest gears. The beach front at Frejus was thronged with tourists with a market on opposite the beach; I stopped for another snack. After Frejus a cycle track went for a few miles and after Saint Maxime the track went to the opposite side of the road all the way to St Tropez. This was a problem as I had to cross back over through five lanes of heavy traffic and negotiate a busy junction to get on to the D559 for Cavalaire. Not for the faint hearted but again I found the traffic gave me the road and throughout the whole seven day journey never came accross one aggressive driver. In fact quite the opposite as I was given friendly horns and waves, one even stopping to offer me water.

In the afternoon heat the climb up to Croix Valmer really got to me. I had to rest in the shade three quarters way up and had a long chat with a local ex cyclist who told me of his adventures when in his youth. At Cavalaire sur Mer, another beach resort there was another brutal climb to the campsite cros de mouton'Ah, you must be Mr Donnelly', the smiling Dutch lady at reception said ' We don't get many cyclists come up here; you can see why' It was worth it though, as it had all the facilities, the pool I spent an hour in, the restaurant, the bar. The only problem was the hard ground for pitching leaving me to resort to tying the guy ropes to stones and the surrounding trees. It became quite windy in the night but the tent held up well.
64 miles
Have a look at the map and more photos here