Into Provence

The county of Provence in southern France is by far the most consistantly beautiful place so far in Europe (I seem to say that a lot). Hilltop villages and castles everywhere, great scenery, vineyards and country roads make for great cycling.
Unfortunately the night before I left Avignon, I had one of my front panniers stolen from outside my tent. So my bike looked and steered quite odd. When I was passing through a small village in Provnce, and man leaned out of his window and asked if I wanted a drink. Jean-Noel provided me with a terrific beer, and upon enquiring about my odd baggage setup, proceeded to give me some new panniers, just like that! Things always have a habit of working out, eh?





Outside Jean-Noels little house



Last shot of Avignon



Chateaux



Its a big problem in France, apparently




Random vista

Dancing on the Birdge in Avignon

Avignon is beautiful, the perfect walled fairytale city. I spent two days with some scottish lads exploring the city (and juggling)





Pedestrian Alley





Archway




The Palace du Papes





View of the city from my campsite






The city again




Pedestrian thoroughfare

Continued...to Avignon

More pics guys. Now Im in Avignon, but I havent taken any photos yet. Ive been too busy doing this blog! Avignon is my second favourite city so far, the first being Hamburg, and the third being Padua (Padova).



The landscape slightly restored my strength.



Town. (Im very descriptive, arent I?)



Bay Sunset



Another beautiful bay



At the statue in Toulon (Picture taken by a squad of U.S Marines, who were impressed by my effort!)

My beard was the source of my power

I shaved after someone special asked me to, and I swear it was the worst decision I have made. My Bicycle Hero powers have diminished, I feel lethargic, I cant spell very well on the keyboard, and my knees hurt. Surely the beard is the cause. Anyhow, the latest batch of scenery was awesome. Almost made up for the missing beard, but not quite.



Something missing...



Oh, the beard



Landscape 1



Landscape 2



Landscape 3

Nice is Nice (another bad pun)

I got to Nice, determined to have a swim. I got that, and also some heartburn from trying to find a place to stay. I finally found a place on top of a HUGE hill overlooking Nice. Not fun getting there on the bicycle. I made some pals, lazed about, and then left for Toulon, bypassing Cannes which was overrated I think.



War memorial, Nice



Nice Square



View from the Hostel



Cannes Beach

Ventimiglia, the border (and Monaco)

Almost in France! Here is Ventimiglia, the last Italian town I was in, and a view of the French coast. I have a lot more pics, it just takes a lot of time, therefore money, to upload them!



Ventimiglia from my tent!



View of the French coast



Walk in Rich Rich Monaco

More on Riomaggiero

Heres some more shots from Riomaggiero, and the Village just beyond, Levanto, where I stayed for the night. Not much to report on the cycling, except its HARD, and Malik is behaving.







Levanto Beach

The Sea and Ventimiglia

I finally made it to the sea, and cycled some of the Riviera. The Belgians had gone home and I was alone again. I took a break at a cliffside village called Riomaggiero, breaktaking!



Not Riomagierro, but still nice



This and all the others are Riomaggiero

Too much lean on that...

Arriving at Pisa



Broken Malik (now fixed)



Sunset in Pisa



Have a guess what this is

When my Belgian biking mates finally made it to Pisa we thought our troubles were over, nay, they had only begun. OK, it wasnt that big of a deal, but I had a hefty crash and destroyed yet another front wheel. Pisa was nice, by the way. The computer I am using won't upload my photos, so you'll just have to wait a little while before you see what I see.

Kyle

Under the Tuscan sun

Some of the scenery in Italy is fantastic, while some is monotonous, heres some of the nicer shots



Me and my companions on the road



Typical Italian scenery



Halfway up the Appenines



Panorama

Sunset in Padua

This is the city of Padua, just west of Venice. This night I met a couple of Canadians and we spent the better part of three hours searching for a Pizzeria in Padua. Imagine that, a pizza shop in Italy...

Fear and loathing in La Mestra

I'll update this with more words later, but I left Venice this morning and I'm in Pdua at the moment.



Very Hunter. S, sans Aviators



Venice Plaza



Old building



Typical canal

Auf Wiedersehen,Vienna

I am now preparing to depart this historic city...

Here another video, no cycling in it, though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7Y9J1W8ZCA

You'll have to tilt your head...

Statue




Malik and a fountain



A hearty dinner with the Oirish

'If it aint baroque then don't fix it'
Austrian Saying