Quality

Rest day: complete. A bit of walking, a bit of shopping, plenty of food. Grabbed the train from Mouins-Sartoux to Cannes (10-15 minutes) before a spot of exploration. Made our way to the morning market where I held back a bit (I only had a small sack) buying some fresh avocodo and wicked looking purple artichokes! Proceded along to the promenade to witness the chaos known as the Cannes film festival. Not terribly exciting in my books, though some pretty snazzy cars and suits, but well enjoyed by my female companion. We even bought some art from a crazy Italian painter on the beach who "liked our energy". A sales pitch I'm sure, but a pretty smoking deal on 2 cool paintings. Plus the entertainment value. A long french lunch was certainly the deal of the day at a small patio cafe in view Cannes. 12 Euro each got a starter (salads or tapas type plate), rack of lamb with small salad and patates Dauphinois, wine, and of course a dessert. I was stuffed. So ordered a cafe to relax a bit. A little more wandering and a few small purchases (I got some Aioli to try) and we were back ont the train. 2.60 Euro each way is pretty cheap. Such was the day, tomorrow back to work on the bike with a quick run into the local market in Valbonne to stock up on fresh produce.
Also, worth checking out is Micheal Barry's new diary on Velonews.com. The man is my hero. Any time you trun on Giro converage, there he is on the front. And everytime I point him out again to Yannick who is very impressed with the top proffesionalism of the Canadian. Hats off to him.
"During the first two stages I spent an accumulated 300 kilometers on the front with two teammates." MB