Day 8 – Travel Day and a Note About Aix

Today is our travel day from Provence to Tuscany...full of train tickets, stations, schedules, etc.  We started at 9:45 am with a bus from Aix to the TGV train station and pulled into the Pisa train station at about 8:30 pm.

We passed through Toulon, Cannes, Antibes, Nice, Monte-Carlo (above photo from the train), Genova, and a number of other cities before reaching Pisa. Also, since neither of us has ever seen the leaning tower in person, we made that a priority right after we checked-in to the hotel.

We threw our bags in the room and started the 20-minute walk from the Hotel La Pace through some pretty seedy looking/feeling areas to get to the tower. I don't know what we were expecting from Pisa, but this wasn't it.

We saw the tower, took some photos before it rained and got dark, and had the worst pizza I’ve probably ever had in a restaurant. Then back to the hotel for some fine B (minus) American movie dubbed in Italian and some rest before tomorrow’s ride to Certaldo. All told, we were in Pisa for about 13 hours (7 of them sleeping).

It occurred to us that one of the differences in this trip to past trips we've taken—besides the all the sweating, exhaustion, ride sheets, and washing padded spandex bike shorts and t-shirts in a hotel sink—is the length of stay in many of the cities. 

Because we’re often just riding through (and not actually to) many of these cities, we haven’t really had a chance to explore them. Because of this—and the fact that this is first and foremost a vacation—not much info on the actual cities has been posted here.

I did, however, want to mention a bit more about Aix-en-Provence.  We liked Aix. We spent much of the day here yesterday and definitely could have stayed longer.  It has that energy of larger cities like Florence, but didn’t seem as touristy as might be expected. As soon as we rode into town we could tell it was different than previous destinations on this trip.

We were told it was considered a college town, but many of the shops and restaurants are upscale to Rome/Paris/New York standards...oh, and English is spoken by more locals here.  It just had a great—for lack of a better word—vibe that we hadn’t yet experienced anywhere else on this trip. We also found a great tea spot where we spent some time just watching the city life in Aix.

It would have been great to spend a bit more time here, but the now dry biking shorts/shirts on the shower door signal it must be time to head out again.  When I pick this back up we’ll be in Tuscany—Certaldo, Siena, Lucarelli, and finally our ride into Florence. Oh, and we'll also have six new co-cyclists and Blue Marble coordinator named Catherine.

Day 8 Stats:

• Travel Day - No k's
• No Riding
• Lunch - A train station somewhere...
• To Remember - Trains through Monaco, the Tower

Comments

[Charlie (and Helen)]

Hi guys,

I happened to be looking for something in Helen's email box program and came across Bill's link to your blog, and as a hard-core cyclist, had to see what you were up to. I've always wanted to do a cycling trip in Europe, but Helen is a non-cyclist, so I'll experience yours vicariously. Never been to south of France, but we were in Tuscany about 18 months ago. We spent several days in Florence, and took a day trip to Siena for our anniversary. DO NOT MISS seeing the Duomo--it is magnificent, especially the room that holds the musical illuminations--everything is in pristine, unrestored condition. We had dinner at a restaurant recommended by a friend here in Plainfield--Il Cane e Gato, and it was fantastic. Oh, and as you may be finding out by now, the road from Siena to Florence is hilly--in fact, you can't go more than 20 feet without climbing or descending.

Have a great time in Italy--

Charlie

[dave auch]

What a beautiful train ride. Very excited for your tuscany entries. Sounds like an incredible trip so far. Can't believe all you've done.

One word for you: Truffles! mmmm...

xoxo,
dave