June 6-8, Bastia and a Small Tour of Corsica |
Ok! Pictures say a thousand words... That is true and yet, universes can hide between pictures... as they certainly do in this brief travel journal! Last time I wrote, we were in Porto Vechio and I had decided to call it quit for my sailboat experience. Below, the old Port of Bastia closest to bottom of picture and closer to the top, that's the new Port where the big ferries arrive and depart... several everyday from Marseilles and other France ports as well as Genoa, Italy. |
I was reading in a "Marine Manual" that to own a boat is a wonderful hobby for a handyman... The pre-requisites are a very well stocked tool box and a CERTAINTY to have something to fix or control EVERY WEEK!
Alain's sailboat being docked in France some 6 hours drive from home...doesn't get all the attention it could get, and, being over 10 years old, it needs a lot of upgrading and upkeep... Too much to do it all.
Here, Alain (and I) sopped up and sponged up some water leak (very small but still annoying) which is still a mystery but most probably the water pressure pump when on reserve tank.
Friday morning, 8am, picked up the rental car and we took off to see most of the "touristy" areas. Although this is not tourist season, tourists there were... Tour buses full of them. You can imagine summer time when Europe goes on holidays!!!
It turned out perfect for us as we had very light traffic for the 2 days we drove around... And perfect weather of course!
Here, we drove through the Scala di Santa-Regina; a canyon with rugged mountains, rock formation and natural beauty.
Rock formation... and yes, some red rocks! Doesn't it remind you of Sedona, Arizona a little??
The Golo river at the bottom of the canyon. At one place, there's an hydraulic dam and artificial lake.
An amazing find in the canyon... A ladybug! My favorite omen of JOY and HAPPINESS!
Heading towards the West coast... we can see the blue of the sea already.
The small port of Porto where we had lunch.
This is no camera trick. The "Mediterrannean" blue is a real thing. Put red rock formations with it and you get some awesome scenery... of which I saw a rather small part because we were not in a hicking mode. Something to do on a future trip??
Yes, it sure looks like Sedona countryside here... A favorite tourist attraction called "les Calanches". As we drove on, we passed through some breath-taking scenery but I didn't stop because the small winding road was already filled with walking tourists, cars parked wherever possible... Another thing to do on some future trip???
more rock formations...
Awesome! I really wanted to see the West coast... Alain always sails to the East coast because the winds are not so violent and the ports are calmer and less touristy. One can see why... As for sailing, all the winds and weather patterns come from the West... So the West gets the brunt.
Alain, of course, has seen all of this... from his sailboat. He and his wife and sailing buddies have been coming to Corsica for over 10 years. However, he rarely has driven around since he hates driving and his wife doesn't like to ride with him driving??!!!
I was glad to bring some "newness" to our sailboat trip!!
The captain and his skipper... This time, I'm the driving captain and Alain is enjoying the discovery.
Guess where??? I could be on the California Pacific coast and you wouldn't be able to tell!
GORGEOUS, awesome, and my heart was singing...
