motoreiter: Corsica--May 2014

For a variety of reasons, I only had several days to take off during the May holidays this year, but decided I would try to go to Corsica and Sardenia. After looking into it, I decided that was too ambitious, and in fact, I didn't really have time to do Corsica properly. But I decided to go anyway...

I flew into Milan, as usual, and rode down to lovely Fado Ligure to catch the ferry to Bastia, on Corsica. Here are some shots of this lovely locale.

First, these are really big ferries, the trip is overnight:

I pulled up on the bike and got in the long line of vehicles:

There is actually a nice castle (or something) overlooking the harbor, but generally the place is pretty ugly:

The ferry was nothing special, so no pix. We pulled into Bastia early in the morning, and it was kinda tough to find a place for breakfast, but after an espresso and a croissant (welcome to France!) I got on the road down to Bonifacio, on the southern tip of Corsica.

The road to Bonifacio is bigger/straighter than most roads on Cyprus, so I was able to get down there in a few hours. I found a cabin in a campground on the edge of town:

The town itself is beautiful, with a big castle overlooking the harbor:

There are also great views from the castle overlooking the town and surrounding areas:

The harbor and castle were especially beautiful at night:

While I was walking around town, I saw a hotel with balconies overlooking the harbor, so decided to stay there on my second night. So after a night in the cabin, I packed up in the morning and checked into this hotel (I forget the name!). It had a fantastic view, both during the day and especially at night:

After two nights in Bonifacio, I had to move on; I only had three nights in Corsica (plus one on the ferry on the way). So I road up the west coast, which is very beautiful, and twisty. Here is an indicative shot, although it does not do the scenery justice:

I stopped for a lunch of sausage and bread along the way, where I met a Ukrainian guy and his girlfriend, also on a bike, who took my picture:

A bit after lunch I turned away from the coast, into the mountains. I was surprised to see snow on the peaks even in May:

Just after leaving the mountain pass above, I encountered this big fella, who was blocking the road, and then ran along it for awhile:

I didn't really have a set destination for the day, although I'd hoped to make to the tip of the "finger" on the NE corner of Corsica. Along the way, there is plenty of beautiful scenery in Corsica:

By the time I got to Saint-Florent, on the north coast (but before the "finger"), I was exhausted and I decided to stay there for the night. The town was nothing special, here is a shot, of the town, along with my refreshments after the day's ride:

My ferry left late morning the next day, so I got up early, rode back to Bastia, and caught the ferry. Here is a shot of Bastia from the ferry:

The ferry ride back was more lively, as least for a while. I didn't have a cabin on this ferry, so grabbed a deck chair. As you can see, it was cloudy and pretty cool on deck, so I had to bundle up.

A selfie after a couple of nice days on Corsica:

The ferry docked in the evening, and I had to find a place to stay. Of course it started raining just as the ferry docked, so I rode along the coast to the east looking for a place to stay. Unfortunately I stopped at a couple places, and they were either full or didn't have a balcony, so I moved on, in the rain, until I found a pretty average hotel, but at least they had a balcony... The next morning I would ride to Bellagio.

As usual, I wanted to spend the last night of the trip in Bellagio, because it is a nice town and convenient for getting to the airport. Like the day before, the last day was cloudy, and Como was wreathed in clouds, very pretty: