Throwing open my 8am curtains I was regaled by the beauteous lines of the Nice Opera House, surrounded by early morning strollers of various types taking in the sights of Nice Old Town. Some of these wanderers, I couldn’t help but notice, seemed to be wearing skirts… the hairy, broad-chested male ones that is!
Oh, of course, I’d forgotten that on this particular Sunday in September, Nice would host the Rugby World Cup Scotland versus Tonga game at the Stade de Nice and these early morning carousers were out in their kilts and dirks taking in the sunshine amidst the food stalls and accordion-playing chanteurs of the Old Town.
Once thoroughly and deliciously coffee’d and croissant’d up, I set off for the famous Promenade des Anglaise… the fabulous Mediterranean-hugging strip that runs along one of the world’s most iconic beaches. Well, good news all ye Phuketians, the beach at Nice is as rocky, stony and rammed with tourists as any I’ve ever seen and not a patch on Nai Harn, Kata or Bang Tao.
The vast paved promenade that runs alongside this world-famous beach, gets its name from the English expat patrons who paid for it to be constructed in 1822. It runs along the whole four-kilometre sweep of the Baie des Anges with a dedicated lane for cyclists and skaters. Indeed, if you fancy a be-wheeled canter along this sun-drenched strip you can rent skates, scooters, bikes or even an electric segway!
I had in mind hiring an online Velo Blue bicycle for a sunny morning ride south along the Promenade, then out past Nice Airport and onward for about 20 kilometres around the Baie des Anges to Antibes, followed by a sea swim and then back in time to watch the kickoff of the rugger match at one of the myriad sports bars in Nice’s Old Town.
I strolled amidst the other Flaneurs down to the Promenade and met an exceeding smiley and helpful French damsel named Elodie who explained that because of the imminent BIG GAME, they were giving the bikes out free of charge today, so people could cycle all the way to the stadium, drop the bike off and then see the game, without clogging up the roads with traffic.
How very enlightened and generous, to promote health and wellness, while cutting down on traffic and pollution. Could our Phuketian overlords learn a lesson or two from this I wondered?
It was 26°C during my mid-morning ride under an azure sky and I was besotted with abundant distractions in the shapely shapes of beach-bound lovelies in bikinis, which helped keep my mind in deep focus on my cycling and the gorgeous environment through which I was passing.
Opposite the romantically-named Neptune Beach I cycled past the beautiful Negresco Hotel, possibly France’s most luxurious and iconic hostelry. A favourite of royalty, billionaires and film stars escaping that ghastly place called Cannes! This year the Negresco was celebrating its 110th anniversary having opened in 1913, the romantic project of Romanian ex-restaurant director, Henri Negresco. He established it as a point of reference on the Côte-d’Azur, its façade white and imperious rising to a pink dome which is said to have been inspired by the perfect breasts of his mistress. Then again, they say that sort of thing about most domes in France… that’s the French for you!
It was a glorious ride, sea swim and return which left me musing upon the neglected possibilities of such a cyclist and stroller-friendly beachside promenade in Phuket.
Why hadn’t the TAT (Tourism authority of Thailand) and many governments who had banged on about “cyclist-friendly” tourism actually spent the relatively small amount to construct such a facility? Easily monetised through adjacent cycle rental, massage and food shops and cafes, it would be a boon for our island. But then again much as the French Riviera is said to be a dreamers’ paradise, maybe Phuket exceeds even that iconic realm for leaps of fantasy.
One thing we didn’t have to dream about was a Scottish win. Yes, being half-Scot, I am delighted to report that the men in tartan skirts beat the men in grass skirts by 45 points to 17… What a Nice day!
‘Bicycling’ Baz Daniel has been penning his Blazing Saddles column, chronicling his cycling adventures in Phuket and beyond, since 2013.