Hotel Le Tourisme Zonza

... amazing harbor to boast about too. Being from California, I’m sure to seaside property where the cliffs are endlessly encroaching further and further inland. It doesn’t appear that this town has that problem.

It was a relaxing morning for me as I was sitting on the sun deck chatting with friends on the Internet as we approached Bonifacio. The sun was up ...

Next few days spent out and about in Ajaccio, home of Napoleon and Hello Kitty fanatics... even saw the Hello Kitty car. Population around 60,000 and the largest city in Corsica.

Pretty mellow place, dogs galore including some old lady with her asthmatic pug called Oscar being dominated by one of the many ...

... much, eat... read... sleep... repeat!

Jellyfish galore which looked like lolly wrappers floating past, but apparently pack a mean bite. Luna fish made an appearance, sunbathing on top of the water and two dolphins cruised past but didn't want to play. Someone always had to be awake during the night to keep us out of the way of the huge ...

... to make theraputic and aromatic oils for medicinal or relaxational purposes. At the end of the tour, there was a shop where you could buy some product. We didn't because the Body Shop has it cheaper. The second stop was a small winery called Clos Ornasca. We were able to sample their white, rose and red wines (even though it was before 11am), and petted their dogs and cats for a while. At the end of the tour, there ...

... right across the road). The car was a brand new Peugeot (a French brand) so he was a little worried about learning on a brand new car. Our directions to get to our B&B were a little vague, so it took us a while and a drive through the town of Ajaccio to finally get on the right road. This gave Ross a little more practice for the mountain roads he was going to battle. Yes, the roads in Corsica are all tiny and very windy. Ross did great and we got to the town of Campo ...

AJACCIO IS GORGEOUS!! The cliffs along the shoreline with the mountains in the background, the buildings, everything- GORGEOUS! Shame I had some inductions to go to and was kept quite busy so I wasn't able to take any pictures or get off the boat, but that will change next time. One word for this port- stunning!

... at the time). Maybe some 400 verticle meters of loose rocks, accending on an unmarked route. Slipping, sliding and rocking we made it to the ridge 2400m high. Here we patrolled the ridge trying to find the safe spot for decending 50m to safely navigate some round the peaks. Eventually we decided a route but ended going too low. So instead of an easier climb up and around the moutain ridge we had to take a difficult harder ...

... a little after midday to an empty refuge I found some free food supplies of salsa tuna and a tin of sweetcorn. Lunch was a filling mustard mackeral mash with sweetcorn and Corsician thyme. This knocked me out as I then slept for a few hours. Waking up I met a friendly couple from Quebec. Chatted to them for a few hours while cooking up a pasta feast and then crashing early.

... This walk had signs about Chestnut farming (in French again) along the way. As the land moved more to pine forest than chestnut farms there was a stop at Cascades d'Aïtone, a cool dip in the pools under the waterfall. Arriving at the Col de Verghio feeling good, 5 hours after setting off, I decided to continue to the refuge instead of the hotel. Ploughing through trees on the rough mountain side I reached a closed ...

... Corsican Nationalism, with their own language on all the signs and it can be heard in the streets(it sounds like Italian with a stuffy nose), their own flag (the head of the Moor with his blindfold removed), and the map of Corsica everywhere (on girls'necklaces, cookies, bottles of brandy,...). We drove about an hour north to Bevella which reminded me a lot of Yosemite (not that I've been to Yosemite but I've seen pictures) with sharp pink ...