The concert at the base of the citadel was still in full swing when we returned to the boat and so we sat up on deck listening to the final numbers of the performers, all sung in French, watching through binoculars the performance on an enormous stage with its special light show. It was quite spectacular from our viewpoint because the multi-colored lights were dancing across the water and up and down the walls of the citadel.
Sunday was such a lazy day we didn't even go ashore to do any food shopping. Susie, Greg and I rested and read, spent some time looking at photos on the computer and selecting some to add to the website. I have only been sending photos taken by the Blackberry so the quality has not be as good as those taken with the camera.
Lunch was salad and Corsican tart (like a Quiche Lorraine but made with a very light cheese rather than eggs, and I cut most of the pastry shell off for the sake of our health and our figures!). Dinner was spaghetti carbonara (made properly, without cream) and then slices of fresh peach with raspberries served with a little marscapone to which I had beaten in some strawberry liqueur. We were planning to watch a DVD but bed beckoned. How lovely to have such a simple day relaxing on the boat and then an early night.
Monday we rented a car to drive down the coastal road to Porto, only about 70 km but more than 2 hours of driving. We really like to see an area by land and by sea so that we can appreciate both perspectives and understand more about the lives of the locals.
Greg's driving skills were evident as he turned around hundreds of bends on the mountain roads, sometimes not wide enough for a car to pass in the other direction. The Great Ocean Road in Victoria is tame in comparison.
The scenery was spectacular! It was interesting enough to tour the country roads as they wind around the mountains, which are quite barren but with patches of a low dark green shrub and beautiful red and ochre rocks, but suddenly we would round a bend to find a panorama of the amazing coastline below us in the distance. Our views were mostly of bays that can only be visited by boat, including the village of Girolata which does have another entrance point - by way of a 45 minute hike down from the "main" road. It's incredible to see the jagged beauty of the mountains framed by a bright blue sky and also have opportunities to sight motor boats and sailing boats making their way across wide deep blue bays.
We drove a little off the Porto road to visit Galeria, a very pretty fishing village of 300 which has an influx of summer visitors by road and by sea to swim from the pebble beach in the aqua colored water or just have lunch at one of several restaurants and admire the views.
We did stop several times at scenic points so that Greg would also have a chance to admire the views and when we stopped above Porto to look down on the town we all gasped with delight. The road winds abruptly down to a narrow cove where Porto is based, the village being split by a promontory with a Genoese tower perched on top. Porto also only has a winter population of 350 but you can tell from the many hotels and oodles of restaurants that during the summer it's a very popular spot. There are many tour operators who take people out to the surrounding coastal area to view the Reserve Naturelle de Scandola (photos to be on website), which is a Unesco World Heritage site in recognition of its unique marine environment. The entire Scandola peninsula is part of a volcanic complex dating back 248 million years ago, with lava flows causing domes and organ-pipe shapes in some areas.
We are fortunate enough to be able to sail by it on our own boat, but we will not be able to sail close enough to the red granite cliffs to see the corals, sponges and anemones that we have read about. Nor will our photos do justice to the beauty of the area.
After lunch in a restaurant with the best view (and therefore very ordinary food)and a sea breeze to help keep us cool we had to return along the same coastal route to Calvi as there is no other. So Greg needed a nap and a couple of beers back at the boat before we could take the dinghy into the port for Susie's last dinner with us before leaving for home.
We returned to U Callelu on the waterfront to be assured of fresh fish and friendly competent service and we were not disappointed. We are like the locals now, beginning with our aperitif of Cap Corse and Susie has the task of sourcing where we will be able to purchase this drink in Melbourne.
This morning we dropped Susie off at the port taxi service and then left the Golfe de Calvi, heading south into (you guessed it) a wind on the nose. Our plan was to spend the night at Girolata, that place not accessible by road, but as the wind strengthened considerably, even gusting at 30 knots, by the time we started to motor into that bay we changed our minds and kept on towards Ajaccio. Who needs an uncomfortable anchorage rolling around all night!
We did pass by those stunning cliffs and had tons of sunshine so the journey was not too arduous. Besides, Dream Catcher 3 is an extremely safe boat. We are now nearly at Ajaccio, having passed through the Iles Sanguinaires, four small islets with very jagged red rocks (hence the name as sanguinaires means "bloody"). Let's hope we are able to obtain a marina berth as it's now 7.30 pm.