Corsica
After a beautiful time exploring the northern end of Sardinia it was time to move on and having heard so much about Bonifacio, Corsica we were excited to check it out.
The sail from La Madelenna to Bonifacio was less than 2 hours and so it wasn’t long before the incredibly high white cliffs of Bonifacio came into view. Bonifacio was the place that Napoleon Bonaparte grew up in and one of the attractions is visiting his childhood home. The harbour itself is so well hidden and must have been an incredibly strategic position in the days where wars were fought from the sea. If you blinked you would miss the narrow opening to the harbour but once inside it opens up to a beautiful harbour and old town which is incredibly well protected from wind and sea.
Breathtakingly beautiful Corsican Cliffs
Bonifacio Harbour
It wasn’t long before we rated Bonifacio a 12 out of 10!
The starkly white sheer sandstone cliffs falling into the turquoise blue water is truly a sight that must be seen and that no photo can capture.
It was quite hot the day we arrived so after securing Baruch in a beautiful little harbour only a few hundred metres from the town we decided to take the tender for a spin around to the beach outside of the harbour. This area is a National Park and has been to date the best snorkelling we have seen in the Med. It was encouraging to see so many good sized fish which is a rarity in the Med due to overfishing.
After a lovely afternoon on the beach it was time to put our frocks on and head out to dinner. It would be fait to say that your eating over here has been debaucherous - croissants and pain de chocolat and coffee for breakfast, gelato for lunch followed by Aperol Spritz’s for drinks o clock and then dinner often followed by another gelato!! Some serious reigning in of the diet will need to occur on our return but we have decided that the reason the locals can eat this way is all the steps and Bonifacio would have to be the most obvious example of this. I wouldnt like to think what it would be like to get to the top and realise you forgot the milk?!
Beach time
Dinner out in Bonifacio
The next morning we hit the steps and the trails for a run together as a family. The trail hugged the rugged coastline and was one of the most spectacular runs I have done.
Morning run track
After a couple of wonderful days in Bonifacio it was time to keep heading north. We left Bonifacio on a windless sunny morning but after a few hours cruising north the clouds began to descend and a thunderstorm had us taking shelter in a different bay than we had intended which ended up being an absolute blessing in disguise. As soon as we arrived the wind died, sun came out and we had one of our best anchorage experiences together with lots of surfing, tubing, SUP time and a great beach jog for Fathers Day the next morning.
We cruised further north to a tiny little marina in Cargese where we just squeezed in and had a lovely quiet night in the marina while the building swell crashed against the breakwater.
A short sail north the next day had us arriving in Calvi where we would depart for the 100NM crossing over to the French Riviera. We had not heard anything about this town but it didn’t take long for us to fall in love with the beautiful shop laden cobblestoned laneways. Here in Calvi we got to know some other yachties tied up next to us who had some pretty amazing stories to share with us ranging from competitive sailing right through to their day job of rescuing kidnapped ship captains and crew from African ports. these guys need to write a book - if half of what they said was true it would still be a bestseller!
Calvi glamours
Calvi fruit stall
The bustling laneways of Calvi
We spent a couple of days in Calvi where we enjoyed the shops, the beach right next to the marina, Kye tried his hand at windsurfing and proved to be a real natural at it and then we finished our stay with lovely dinner out in town before our 5:30am departure the next day bound for the French Riviera.
Family happy snap before dinner in Calvi
Besties in Calvi
