We called this trip the “Francathalon”, because we were pretty exhausted until we got to relax on the sailboat. Michèle and the boys kept us busy! As a bonus, we were so close to Sardinia, Italy that we stopped there to meet up with some new friends.
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- Corsica is a mountain in the sea. A French territory, it’s about the size of Delaware, and a third of the size of Sardinia, the Italian island just south.
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- Corsica has it’s own language – somewhere between French and Italian, although all three are spoken here. What we didn’t hear or see was English. Corsica is off the beaten path for American tourists.
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- Napoléon Bonaparte, born in Corsica, was shrewd, ambitious and mercilessly bullied in school about his Corsican accent.
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- Corsica is a rough and tumble place, with rumors of mafia connections. The black guy, a Moor with a bandana, is on their flag.
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- An intersection sign shot with bullet holes? These are frequently used for target practice.
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- The five of us were not the lightest packers. The puzzle pieces required only a shoehorn and some Vaseline.
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- Bob and Bill attempting a wild boar selfie.
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- Caving was our first adventure. Our headlamps were valuable during those three hours.
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- From: “Where do we go from here?” To: “You gotta be kidding me! That way?”
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- One of many tight squeezes.
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- Tired, dirty and happy. We finally came up for air after that last belly crawl through the spiders. *cringe*
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- River bouldering was our next adventure. Bill, Bob, Michèle, Mike and I donned wetsuits, helmets and hightop river shoes, as we hiked, swam and slid down the river.
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- Water channels through the boulders, making a natural slip ‘n’ slide.
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- Last one in is a rotten egg, Mike!
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- Adventure #3 was hiking in the mountains. Taking a break at Parc Naturel Régional de Corse.
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- Up at the top of the mountain, hearing the thunder rumble, and feeling lucky.
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- Of course, Mike had to rock climb to the hole in the rock!
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- Adventure #4 – sailing! The good ship Bizman was ours for 6 nights, because most of Corsica should be seen from the Mediterranean Sea.
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- View from a hike at one of our ports of call. The Mediterranean Sea is beautifully clear here.
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- French military exercises on a calm day.
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- Kids menu: Chopped steak, chicken strips in cornflake crust or fish fillet. Along with fries or pasta and, of course, ice cream. All for 11.50 Euro or about $13USD.
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- Swimming out to the rock was easy. The hard part was climbing the barnacle encrusted stairs with fins in hand.
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- Historic door knocker, after years of salty sea air.
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- Mind if I play through? Mike found a golf ball during his snorkel!
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- One of many lovely sun drenched meals on the sailboat.
