Celebrating another year around the sun

Time flys when you're having fun and low and behold, that significant day rolls around again. The Corsican escape is all part of the birthday celebration, but naturally there's a need for the icing on the cake. So, with difficulty, given the lack of WIFI, I manage to find a sailing cruise leaving from the marina 45 minutes south. We are up early and meet our Captain, Obe, as arranged in his gift shop near the departure point. Maria, his delightful wife, collects the cash while Obe lures us to purchase some of his wines and gift lines as we wait for the other passengers. Parlez vous Francais? Non. Parlez vous Anglais? Non. The two other French couples in their 40's arrive and they have three girls, 7, 11 and 13 between them and no one speaks English! So it evolves that we have actually joined a full French immersion experience!

We load the trolley with the lunch and beverages and meander down to the dock to board Lena Lisa 11, a 49 ft sailing boat. Obe is a passionate sailor, a local of several generations so he is full of the knowledge of the area, the history and all things nautical. Our first mooring is 'morning tea' and out comes the beers and biscuits, with coke for the kids. We swim in glassy clear warm water with fish splashing all around us - they too, got baguette for breakfast and the girls were squealing with excitement as Obe threw the bread out right beside them.

Another couple of hours of motoring down the coastline past some fairly significant mansions, a few large apartment blocks and lots of green hills brought us to a little bay with several nice houses amongst the trees, which Obe proudly announced was his home. His 104 year old grandmere also lives there and his mother and father, brothers, sisters etc. You get the picture. We drop the anchor into the white sand, metres below and he encourages the girls to untie the large paddle board for some more swimming fun. One of the other ladies is also celebrating a birthday, so out comes the local sparkling rose and the first platter of Maria's specialty home made 'cheese scones'. This is followed by a large platter of local Corse delicacies, cold meats, melon, fruit and some sensational cheeses. The beverages flowed and as Obe consumed another white wine, so did the French. If only we knew what he was saying!

After more swims and some paddleboarding around the yacht, we weighed anchor and set the sails for a slow sail back up the coast to our berth in the marina. Its been a while since we've felt the warm wind in our face and there was plenty of sunshine and blue sky. The perfect way to celebrate a birthday with a lovely group of French friends and barely a word of English.Read more