Nice, the French Riviera and Verdon Gorge. Days 12-15 of the trip

July 26. We got up later than usual because we wanted to catch up on sleep after two cold nights in the tent. We left around 10:20 a.m. and decided that going to the beach at the hottest part of the day was a bad idea, so instead we drove along the scenic Col de Turini road (D2566). We definitely started on that road, but then somehow got lost and after that it was unclear whether we were still on it or not. In short, if we were on the correct route, then there is nothing especially interesting about it. There are hairpins, but no great views because the trees hide everything, and there is nowhere to stop because the roads are narrow.

In the end we turned onto the highway and drove back toward the coast. We reached it very close to the Italian border, where we found both a free parking spot and a beach seven minutes away on foot. The heat outside was unbearable. If anyone needs it, the parking coordinates are 43.760344, 7.457704. It is next to the railway. Most likely people leave their cars there to go somewhere by train. There were very few places, but we managed to get one.

We walked down to the beach. Sveta went for a swim, and the water was warm. Then we drove toward Monaco. Before entering it, we turned off DrimSIM so as not to get charged for expensive data. While passing through Monaco, we decided to make a small detour into it and ended up getting lost again because the navigator was lagging, so we had to circle around. There were lots of cars and traffic jams, and we spent about 30 minutes just trying to escape. I cannot really say much about the city or the state. All we saw from the car window were expensive houses. To me the whole thing feels empty. I do not like the bustle of large rich cities, I prefer nature and fewer people. Norway and New Zealand had that. Anyway, we wanted to make it to the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, and in the end we did. Sveta swam there too. A beach is a beach, there was nothing especially remarkable about it. We had to leave the car in the parking lot of some expensive store. In the end we paid only a little because we were there for no more than an hour, I think. Then we drove on. It was already getting dark, so it was time to find a place for the night. We started checking campgrounds from MapsMe, but they were either closed or full. Eventually, a little outside Nice, we found one that accepted us, and the place itself was decent. Payment could be made the next day. But then there was a problem: I gave my passport to the manager and forgot to take it back. After a while I suddenly realized he still had it and went to retrieve it. He explained that he would keep the passport until we paid. I decided to take my passport back, explaining that it was an important document, and insisted that he accept payment that same day in exchange for it. He called someone and did it my way. Apparently he was just a security guard and was not supposed to take money.

While we were settling in, it got completely dark, and then we saw a car driving into our secluded spot and stopping at the neighboring pitch. I asked them in English where they were from. They answered in English that they were from Ukraine. I asked whether they knew Russian, they said yes, and we continued talking in Russian. They shared their travel stories with us, and we shared ours. It was nice to meet Russian-speaking neighbors in a foreign country.

July 27. We got up early at 6:20 a.m. We had planned to wake up even earlier, but sleep won. We got ready and drove to the beach for a photo shoot of Sveta in her wedding dress, with me acting as the photographer.

We went that early because we wanted to finish taking photos before the beach filled with people.

Then we headed north to see more of France's scenery. The plan was to return to the coast after we had seen everything.

We drove along the scenic road near La Palud-sur-Verdon (D23) and also stopped in the mountain village of Rougon.

We looked out over Verdon Gorge.

And then we went down to this lake called Sainte-Croix.

We saw people swimming there and thought Sveta might swim too, but when we arrived we found that the water in the lake was not as warm as the sea.

After driving around all those sights, we got hungry and started looking for a cafe. The first one we stopped at was closed for siesta. We tried another one and found only some sandwiches. We ordered them. They consisted of toast, tomatoes, chicken and fried eggs. The cook and the cafe manager did not understand English, so we spoke to them in English and they answered us in French. Somehow we reached an understanding. We waited for them to cook everything, ate, and in the end were full enough. We paid 27 EUR for that wonder and drove on. We wandered along all kinds of side roads only to see the lavender fields. But as it turned out, that year they had not really come out well, and they were so faintly bluish that we did not even feel like stopping to photograph them. The ones in New Zealand were better. Toward evening we returned to the coast, around Marseille. We found some campground by the sea, and at first they told us there were no places, but then they still found us one for a single day. They gave us a sticker for the car so we could drive in and out. It felt as if people there were staying long-term again, maybe even for the whole summer. Some of them had big but old vehicles unfolded in such a way that you could have set up a mini bar and hung a large TV there. We also had neighbors from Germany, nice people. The man offered me a small hatchet to hammer in our tent pegs. He also offered us chairs for dinner. On this trip we often felt a little awkward having to eat sitting on the ground or standing up. Europeans in such situations sit on folding chairs and eat comfortably, but ours simply would not have fit into the car.

We went to the sea. It was colder than in Nice. Later I figured out why. Geographically, the coast from Toulon to Genoa is warmer, while from Toulon toward Montpellier and farther west it is a few degrees colder.

July 28. We did not get up very early, then went back to the waterfront for another wedding photo shoot for Sveta. After that we drove north across France and passed a few kilometers from Marseille. This is how it looks from afar:

After that we went to see the Ocher Trail and drove along another scenic road that did not seem all that scenic to us.

Time started pressing on us again, so we decided to return to the coast near Montpellier. We had one inexpensive campground in mind, around 30 EUR, but when we arrived we realized it was too far from the sea. And when you walked toward the beach, you had to pass some local market that strongly reminded us of Anapa. So we decided to look for another place. In the app I found a campground 10 km away, but the sea was only a few dozen meters from it. We arrived, and they told us they had one tent spot left. We were lucky, because otherwise they were supposed to be completely full. So we checked in.

The sea was only 50 meters from our tent.

July 29. We woke up and decided to extend our stay for one more night. The day before, when we were at reception, the manager had pointed at my passport and said that they had a girl from Russia working there, but she was not on shift that day. So when I went to extend our stay the next morning, I walked up to the first new receptionist I saw and asked whether she spoke Russian. Her coworker next to her immediately answered instead. I waited until she was free and arranged the booking through her. We chatted a little. She said she had worked there for a long time and that her husband was a programmer. She also said there were far fewer Russians at their campground after the direct flight from Moscow had been canceled.

That day we had a proper rest. We only drove to Auchan and back, bought some fish there, cooked it at the campground and ate it. Sveta went for a swim. She said the sea felt cool and it was no longer like Nice.

In the evening we got ready to sleep, and while we were packing up, three little birds flew around us. They sat on a branch and seemed to be talking to each other, then fell asleep and stayed there until morning.