Corsica :: Motorhome Travellers

After a 5 hour, uneventful sailing we disembarked at 7pm at Bastia on the east coast, from whence we headed north 12 miles on a very pleasant drive along narrow, but good, roads to the ACSI campsite Domaine LP (n42.50’20” e9.28’25”)at Pietracorbara, where stayed for 3 nights, just relaxing and enjoying being away from the mad roads along the Med coast! Behind us in the queue at check-in we met again with Peter and Hanneke, a Dutch couple whom we had chatted to the previous day at the St L du Var camperstop. We also met Peter and Kay Mitton from Bolton and Greg and Alana Gibson from Aviemore. We were surprised to meet not just one, but 2 couples from home as fellow Brits become something of a rarity so far from home, the exception being Spain in the winter! Pitching on the ACSI area here was a bit of a laid-back, go where you please arrangement, which in essence meant that we were in clusters around the (sparcity of) hook-ups. It was a good site though, with everything we needed.

Scenic drive…

..en route to..

The free Camperstop at Ogliastro (n42.81041 e9.33592) was our next stop, which we reached after a scenic 40 miles drive around the Cap du Corse, during which we commented that the netting used to prevent rock falls must be anchored into place by extremely courageous individuals.

It’s a small village, with shop, eateries, but no boulangerie, the bread is delivered via van-round, which we’d seen a few times that day on our drive around the Cap.

…Ogliastro

Rush hour at Ogliastro!

The pitches are not regimented here, we all scattered around, mostly nestled among the shady trees with the sounds of the stream in the background, so we just had to make it another 3 night halt! Hello to Mark and Gina, from Cornwall, who are intrepidly long-terming in their campervan.

Confusingly there is another (tiny) Ogliastro, situated further south, on the N197 close to Anse de Peraiola. We passed it on our way to the ACSI listed La Panoramic site at Lumio, which is just north of Calvi.

James Bond’s first car?

Calvi scenic view!

La Panoramic is terraced on several levels and is a dreadful site; on the ACSI area we were close to a scrapped car, (can you spot 007 above the bumper?!), the bonfire remains, piles of large tree prunings, and it was a route march to the showers and laundry. We stayed only because it had been a long day, the roads being quite challenging on this side of the island, hence our decision to venture no further south until we’d made the cross-country drive, via the N197 and N193, back to the eastern coastal road, which we found to be much more commercialised than the west, with holiday resorts all down the coastline.

At one such, Moriani-Plage, John spotted a large, free, asphalted car park (n42.37583 e9.53102), which allowed motorhomes so we’d reached our destination for the night!

Look for the large sign…

..for parking at Moriani-Plage!

It’s a lovely place, we enjoyed our time there and stocked up with provisions at an excellent little epicerie/green grocer in the main street; there are few large supermarkets on the island, but we found the smaller ones, more like our corner shops, to be Aladdin’s caves selling everything one could need, including first class delicatessens, fresh meat and fish.

Spotted at the shops, haven’t seen one of these before!

On returning to the car park, laden down with our goodies, we met Peter and Maggie Stokes from Kedington, Suffolk, who were travelling by car and hopping between Eurocamps. They had coffee with us and reminisced nostalgically about the years they’d spent long-terming when their children were younger, home schooling them along the way.

We continued a few miles further south, stopping for the weekend at a free Camper Contact listing (n4211921 e955238), on the coast 2 miles from the centre of Aleria where, on the way through, John spotted a pharmacy thermometer which registered 60deg; it was very hot that day but, nevertheless, we suspect that it was faulty!

A busy weekend at Aleria!

The heat stayed with us all weekend, to the extent that it was cooler inside the ‘van than outside as we had no shade, but we did manage a morning bike ride to the nearby bastion. Our “neighbour” was Joel Grasser from Sallanches, near Chamonix; he told us over a shared meal that he was working in the area and his job is to anchor the netting to prevent rock falls. A few days earlier, when we spotted some work going on, we’d remarked that the artisans who did that are brave men indeed!

Onwards and downwards, we spent 3 nights on the ACSI Marina d’Erba Rossa site (n42.0’2” e9.26’49”) at Ghisonaccia; there are 3 sites listed here and, by sticking our pin in this one, we bumped into Peter and Hanneke again, who us told that until 2 days previously they had even been on our pitch, but their ‘van’s gearbox developed a fault and had been taken to a workshop on a low-loader, hence they were renting a chalet and driving a hire car until the gearbox had been repaired.

So busy at Solara..

…with electric on tap..

..and all very relaxed!

Out for a bike ride, coffee stop view in Solenzara

We were making a very lazy, relaxed trip around the island so just a few more miles south found us at ACSI Les Eucalyptus (n41.52’38” e9.23’47”) at Solara, very close to Solenzara, which we explored by bike. Les Eucalyptus is a bit like a beach camperstop, but with all campsite facilities, very laid back and park where you want.

Edging our way around the coastline we spent a couple of nights at Porto Vecchio, the 2^nd one on the free harbour parking (n41.59284 e9.28479); it was well spotted by John, but you need to be sharp-eyed to get the right entrance, hopefully our co-ordinates will be of help.

Harbour view..

…and a sunset view

Porto Vecchio is a town on 2 levels, the climb too steep for us on a very hot day, but we had seen the “petit train” advertised and went in search of it, only to be told by a local boutique owner that it didn’t start until July; this being only 3^rd June, we decided it was a bit too long to wait and abandoned ideas of exploring the high town! However, we were very close to the Sunday morning local produce market, where we thoroughly enjoyed a wander around, savouring all the samples on offer, some of which were so good that we had to make a few purchases!

Next morning we completed our trip around Corsica on arrival at the southern port of Bonifacio; we had been told what a beautiful town it is, so we made sure to give ourselves the full day there, before our 8pm crossing to Santa Teresa on Sardinia and we weren’t disappointed, hence the following gallery of pics!

A bit tight thru’ here!

The last space, shaded too..

..with this view!

We had intended to arrive very early, before the car parks filled up, but after a bit of a run around, we did find one, close to the centre too, which had spaces for motorhomes and we took the last one!

Views..

..from..

..le Petit Train!

We took the petit train, at €5 each return, which took us on a scenic route up to the high town, where ambled around for a few hours, stopping for coffees, lunch and (ice creams!) along the way.

..the town

..through…

A wander…

We had been fortunate with our parking space as it was well shaded, so we headed back to it in the afternoon heat and had 40 winks, as we would not arrive on Sardinia until 9pm and then had to go in search of a campsite!