Day 31 – Big Sur. 50 km
We idled away our morning in the sunshine in Carmel before hitting the highway. This turned out a mistake as the afternoon brought rain and strong gusting winds. The road to Big Sur skirts the coast and is famously scenic. As today is a Saturday, there was a lot of traffic. And like most coastal hill-hugging roads in California, the shoulder was skimpy in many areas. The combination of continuous traffic, rain, gusty winds and the shoulder deficit made for a very stressful ride.
Carmel was pleasant and is scenically very beautiful, but feels artificial and pretentious. Perhaps that’s the price of too much money living in one place – it’s clearly a very affluent town. There’s only room for the tasteful and well-heeled – although tourists looking for fine dining or art are always welcome. I went into a bank to withdraw some cash and had a young, very sober-looking bank teller ask, “How may I be of service to you?” sounding very officious about it. It was as if he thought I’d wandered in by mistake, Perhaps because I was wearing cycling clothes. I told him I just needed the ATM. He agreed that was probably best.
Hmm, methinks you would not have enjoyed the Paris Ritz as much as I did. Nigel lives in Carmel Valley, 20′ from Carmel-by-the-Sea where you were. Yes, it is wealthy and the playground of the rich on vacation, but I do enjoy watching the “privileged class enjoying their privilege” (quote from High Society)
I couldn’t help myself after the episode with the snooty bank teller. I agree, it’s really a lovely place. But a bit one-dimensional.