Red, White and (Velo) Bleu

Today's headline refers to my skin after getting some sun (red), my skin before sunbathing (white) and the (Velo Bleu) bike ride I took up and down the Promenade des Anglais after sunning by the sea. By the way, have you ever noticed that the Stars and Stripes has the same color scheme (red, white, blue) as the Tricolour? (Sorry, I can't resist riling Francophobes.)

Anyhow, I spent the day soaking up some local color at my favorite beach, Castel. Got a little red/bronze, but I feel so warm and tingly all over. Damp, dank, frigid (and lovely) SF is but a memory.



Castel is the last beach (heading east toward Italy) off the Promenade des Anglais before the port of Nice.



The Promenade is a very wide pedestrian area that parallels the many beaches in Nice, and it has a dedicated bike lane that runs for miles. When Vince and I were in Nice last year, I coveted every racing bike, 10-speed and Huffy that whizzed by. For some crazy reason, I wanted to get on two wheels and pedal my heinie off.

So I signed up for Velo Bleu (Nice's cheap city bike rental system), and it couldn't have been easier. Even for a tourist. Simply call 04.30.00.30.01 on your cell phone (for English, press 2), punch in a credit card number, and you're ready to rent a bike. With 90 Velo Bleu stations (and 900 bikes) in Nice, you are bound to find a cluster of bikes every few blocks. Find a station, select your bike, make a 10-second phone call on your cell, unlock the bike and go, go, go!




The best part: If you return your bike to any Velo Bleu station before 30 minutes is up, your ride's free. I was done in 25 minutes. Very cool.