On the road to Corsica

We are up early as its a slow process packing up, moving the poolside furniture inside and locking all the shutters securely. By 10.30am we are finally on the road but there's a couple of stops in the first hour, fuel at Intermarche because we know the pump will accept our credit card, and then coffee, of course, at the first rest stop on the motorway. Its not bad either. Then the serious journey begins and we don't stop until we're well past Toulouse - the motorway from Bordeaux is long, relatively straight and totally flat. Its a warm humid day so we're flabagasted to see some show off with the roof down on his sports car - can't have been a pleasant journey!

We meet a delightful bordercollie while we're sharing our picnique table with a French family, and he's the lucky dog, as he gets the duck skin from Rogers cold confit duck leg - rabbit terrine and baguette makes up the rest of lunch and then we hit the road for the last hour into Narbonne. We're grateful to be heading east as the three western lanes are completely stationary for a length of 10 kms due to a burnt out car transporter, and its full load of now totally destroyed new cars! The entry into Narbonne is through/over/under and around an amazing 4 leaf clover road junction - seeing is believing! but luckily we made it in one and also secured a park just a few minutes from our studio apartment on the edge of the old town.

Even though the walls were thick and it was on the ground floor, the room was stifling and the pedastal fan did little to compensate for the hot humid air. We headed out for a walk along the canal, a most necessary refreshment and then opted for an early dinner at a turkish restaurant just around the corner. A sleepless night followed but since coffee was high on the agenda, we wandered around the old town the next morning and it was very picturesque and bustling with people setting up for a 3 day music and beer festival alongside the canal. There was a good vibe, some quite classy shops and a good coffee in the town square. Lots of interesting windows in a very eclectic mix of architectural styles as well.

Apart from a brief and torrential downpour as we crossed the mountains outside Aix en Provence we arrived in Toulon with an hour to spare before boarding commenced for our boat trip to Corsica. We had no expectations and our previous experience back in January 2024, had been crossing from Helsinki to Talin through the pack ice! The drive onto car deck 5 was uneventful and then we made our way to our cabin, which was right down the back of the boat. We'd opted for a night time crossing since it was a 12 hour journey, although it seemed as if we were right over the engines which hummed loudly and periodically rattled, so once again sleep was not exactly blissful.

We found a bar on the outside top deck, good for photos but very windy and still very warm. So we adjourned to the 'front bar' where we enjoyed a very acceptable GnT in the air-conditioning. Our fellow passengers were predominantly young families, mostly Italian and there was a large group of backpackers who promptly set up 'camp', air mattresses and sleeping bags in all the random free floor space around the ship. This was instead of paying €10 for a seat and quite frankly it lowered the tone of the ship considerably, not to mention, the safety aspect of blocked access in the event of a fire etc. We did find the 'best' restaurant on the ship, and had a pleasant meal, though we suspect it came out of the same kitchen as the buffet that was feeding the masses, just outside. And so to bed, until the intercom announced we had docked at Bastia - it was pitch black through the porthole and only 5am!Read more