Nonza

For most of us, it was time for a day off the bike. We decided to return to the town of Nonza, which we had seen briefly on yesterday's journey up the coast.

We visited the historic Tower of Nonza and the church of Sainte-Julie before descending the ancient stone steps and rocky path to the beach. Deceived by the distance, we had expected to find a black sand beach. The town is perched on a cliff more than 300 feet above sea level; the beach is a wide expanse of smooth black stones.

The road traversing the hills was fresh in our minds from yesterday's ride; from the beach, it looked quite daunting. Yes, we climbed that! We celebrated with a picnic lunch and a dip in the Mediterranean, relishing the chance to relax.

Tomorrow morning we would move on from St. Florent to the town that would serve as our next home base; tonight there would be much plotting and planning. I had agreed to accept a ride forward (over the first climb), to avoid falling too far behind the rest of the group. During a quiet discussion at dinner, I recognized the need to abandon this plan. Although we now had two cars, only one carried bikes. Unlike some of my fellow riders, I was in good health—merely slow. The rack, and the cars, would already be full.

Our route would take us into the mountains, and the weather forecast showed a 20% chance of thundershowers.

A long, challenging day on the bicycle loomed large.