Besides, there is no better place to view the magnificent deep orange sunset than from the boat, especially with the sea so calm it was like a sheet of rosy-colored glass.
This morning we returned to the shore and wandered around the charming town, with several tantalising patisseries/boulangeries and the main plaza, Place Paoli, shaded by large plane trees and lined with beautiful old cafes/bars. The interior of the 100 -200 year-old cafes/bars had counters of chestnut wood and marble and floors of marble and extensive outside areas. We had only consumed a banana/kiwi fruit/strawberry smoothie before leaving the boat so we firstly found a patisserie to have bignets (a tiny doughnut like delicacy) and coffee. We wandered along the narrow streets and lanes enjoying it all - we really love this town. Then I became very lucky - I found a young British
Lady who had lived in the town for 25 years and was able to tell me of an excellent hairdresser plus speak to the hairdresser in French about how I wanted my "platinum" hair fixed and an appointment was made for the afternoon.
Lunch on the boat of yummy bought quiche plus my salad. Greg spent the afternoon experimenting with the water maker after taking me back to shore. An appointment with the hairdresser and then I felt OK again about being in any of our photographs!
We returned to town about 6.00 pm to take the tourist "train" ride up to the top of L'Ile de Pietra (a real island), joined by a causeway to the town. What a fabulous journey: looking back to the pretty town plus the harbor with all of the yachts at anchor and the mountains looming behind; looking forward to the lighthouse and Genoese tower (like a giant sand castle) on the island; looking each side of our narrow trail into the azure blue waters and rocky out crops; and French songs ringing out their tunes from the "train". What a magical place!
We were dropped back at Place Paoli where we joined everyone else in town for liquid aperitifs and watched the local men play Petanque (like bowls, but on the sandy ground under the trees of the town square).
Greg had a Corsican beer and I had a Corsican pastis, with the bottle of water provided for me to decide how much I wanted to add to my aniseed tasting liquor.
Then we walked further along the curved waterside promenade to La Siesta, a restaurant which adds tables on the sand in the summer. We had the most wonderful evening, with our feet in the sand, watching the sunset over the town and our yacht bobbing up and down in the harbor. The food was excellent, especially the bouillibaisse we each had as a main course (with the croutons, piece of garlic, rouille and cheese to float on our "soup") and the Corsican red wine, Domaine Maestracci E Prove 2005, Appellation Corse Calvi. We have quickly learned to leave room for desserts and tonight we enjoyed carpaccio of peach with a light peach cake and a hot chocolate cake filled with chocolate sauce and served with raspberry sorbet, plus a glass each of Corsican muscat. The staff were all delightful, helping us with French and trying to speak some English, but there is no additional tipping as 10% is added on to the meal to cover that.
A walk back to the dinghy to motor back to our home on the sea ended a perfect day and evening. We could easily stay in L'Ile Rousse for many more days and nights but tomorrow we are going on to Calvi. Another new adventure in store as we wonder what the anchorage will be like and if we will eventually obtain a berth in the marina before guests arrive from Australia on Wednesday.