Top of the pass marking border of Italy and France

Col du Mont Cenis

unknown street in Catania, Sicily

-----0------

My ferry to Messina, Sicily was not scheduled to leave until 2am, it was a Friday night and people where out enjoying themselves at bars and ice cream shops and walking up and down the pier. I spent a few hours riding around the city and eventually sat down on a park bench and just relaxed and observed the scene. It was also a full moon this night and the moon was radiating brilliantly in the sky. Finally rode to the port and boarded the ferry. I was quite tired at this point and laid down on a couch and passed out. Just before arriving in Messina and still feeling a bit hazy I rolled of the ferry and made my way into town. Was originally planing to stay here for my first night in Sicily but just started making my way down the coast and after about 45km i found a very nice hotel with a natural thermal swimming pool and laid down on my bed and turned on the tv to watch the penultimate stage of the Giro d'Italia.
the next day i continued to move down the coast to the town of Catania and stayed at a camp site here for two nights. my original plan was to go to Malta from here, however after doing some research on the web i found that Malta is a horrible place for cycling
for several reasons, so just as i was about to by my ticket for the boat i changed my mind and decided to ride over the hills to Palermo and catch a ferry up to Genoa, a large port city in the north of Italy. it took me three days of riding small back roads to get to Palermo. however the roads were quiet and the scenery was very beautiful with expansive vistas and a lot of rolling hills.

doing laundry at campsite near Palermo, Sicily

Leaving Italy and into France-

On June, 4th I took the 20 hour long ferry from Palermo to Genoa bi passing the entire central part of Italy. I wanted to at least visit Rome but did not want to battle with the madness of Italian driving in a sprawling metropolis. I will have to save the rest of
Italy for another trip.
Arrived in Genoa at 5pm and made my way off the ferry and into the city. the map that i had was not very good for navigating the city but i eventually found my way to a small town about 20km outside of Genoa and stopped at a pizzeria for some pizza and wine. then went to find a nice room above the local pub.
the next couple of days i continued riding towards the alps which marks a natural border dividing France and Italy. My last night in Italy was spent in a quaint town called Susa just at the foothills of the alps. When i left the next morning the road immediately went straight up and continued at a steep incline for the next 25km. As i approached the summit of the pass called the Col du Mont Cenis it started to get cloudy and cold. i remember wishing that the skies were clear so that i could see the mountains that i could sense all around me. I stopped for a coffee at the top of the pass and when i walked outside to continue down the
other side of the pass it started to rain very hard. So i asked the lady at the lodge for a room. I was hoping to ride for another 3-4hours but was not prepared to ride in the wet and cold conditions so i took a nice and simple room at the top of the pass bordering France and Italy.A couple hours later the skies cleared and the majestic mountains were reveled as the evening light dawned.

welcome to France

room with a view

This day I rode down the other side of the pass and into Grenoble, it was a long day on the bike, about 180km but most of that was downhill. i arrived in the famed city of Grenoble at around 6:30 pm and called up my Couch Surfing host. she told me to meet her at a fountain in the city center at 7:30 so i had a drink and then went to meet her. she was a very lovely Aussie girl who has been living in France for many years and spoke French fluently, we went to a bar and met some of her friends. Later that night we had a barbecue and stayed up late drinking way too much wine and speaking of difficult ideas to articulate.
The next day I spent exploring the city and took the cable car up to the top of a mountain that over looks the valley and mountains in the distance. I really liked Grenbole and it kind of reminded me of my home town. I was also very happy to see how bicycle friendly the city was, a lot of designated bike paths and parks.
I then spent the next couple of days going north to Geneva, Switzerland.

enjoying nice bottle of French wine in Grenoble

Grenoble, France