Siena, Cinque Terre, Corsica and Paris

15 June – 3 July

As usual we crammed a great deal into an all too short holiday. We had even planned to begin with an afternoon of sightseeing in Rome but a slightly delayed flight meant last minute change of plans. Instead we met Claire and Jonathan at the Roma Termini railway station – they had arrived earlier in the day and managed some sightseeing – to catch an afternoon train to Siena.

Two days exploring the meandering medieval city before another train journey to Levanto which would be our gateway to the Cinque Terre National Park on the Italian Riviera.

After some exhausting, but rewarding coastal walks, in over 30℃, we made one last train trip. This time to Genoa where we caught an overnight ferry to Corsica.

A few days with a hire car meant that we could investigate the spectacular mountain scenery of central Corsica before heading to the coast to collect our catamaran and begin to explore the spectacular Corsican coast (and a bit of Sardinia).

That week flashed by in no time but the holiday was not yet over. The best route home seemed to be via Paris so we did not mis the opportunity! We said goodbye to Claire and Jonathan in Ajaccio and spent two nights and a full day in Paris.

Our walking route looped from our hotel to Notre Dame along the Champs-Elysées and back to a street-side restaurant near the hotel. A great finish to another fabulous adventure.

Siena

Il Campo, the central piazza in Siena, is dominated by the Palazzo Pubblico and its tower which forms a landmark from anywhere in the city. The piazza is famous for the Palio, a crazy horse race held here every summer. See James Bond, Quantum of Solace for a highly informative historical overview of the horse race and Daniel Craig’s guided tour of the medieval city from the roof tops.

Siena was supposedly founded by Sienius, son of Remus, as in Romulus and Remus the legendary founders of Rome. As a result there are suckling wolf statues around every corner.

Duomo di Siena is a ‘must see’ attraction. We opted for the rooftop tour and were rewarded with views across the city to the Tuscany countryside.

Nigel and Claire could not resist an early morning photoshoot to capture the sights in the morning light and without the crowds.

Cinque Terre

Levanto was our base from which to explore the Cinque Terre National Park.

In reality we barely touched the myriad pathways that are available. Instead we only had time to take the usual tourist route – train to the first village and then follow the coastal path from village to village until you are too tired to walk any further.

Our park entry tickets included unlimited access to the trains that cling to the coast through dark tunnels before emerging into dazzling sunshine at the impossibly colourful villages, often clinging precariously to the cliffs.

First leg – train from Levanto to Bonassola then walk to Vernazza. Unfortunately the coastal track was closed so our route took us higher into the vineyards in the hills. Beautiful, but a longer walk then we had wanted.

Second leg – Vernazza to Corniglia. The friendly lady in the tourist information office explained that once again the lower coastal path was closed for repairs. However, we shouldn’t be concerned, after the climb out of the village the path was fairly level until we descend into Corniglia. She lied!

Seriously tired and thirsty after the last walk we took the easy train option to see the remaining two coastal villages and rewarded ourselves with a beer in each.

Manarola was a posers paradise. The bronzed and the beautiful sunbathed on every available space in the harbour or groomed their hair carefully before leaping from high points on the rocks for the audience on the harbour wall.

Last stop Riomaggiore. It was too hard to decide which was the prettiest village. They were all similar, with colourful buildings clinging to every available space, but each had their own unique charm.

The old railway line from Levanto to Bonassola is now a walk/cycle track. A level track through shaded tunnels sounded perfect after yesterdays climb in the sun. We had an easy walk and a swim before catching the afternoon train to Genoa for our overnight crossing to Bastia in the north of Corsica.

Corsica

After a hot night on the ferry – we discovered the closed AC vent in the morning – we arrived in Bastia, Corsica’s largest port. After collecting the hire car we explored the old city, the port and the citadel before a well earned brunch on the tree lined Boulevard du Genéral de Gaulle.

Poggio-di-Venaco was our first overnight stop. Winding mountain roads took us to a delightful old village perched on a ridge. Our late afternoon exploring led us down to the village of Casanova (there did not seem to be any connection to the famous namesake) through delightful woodlands and back up to our old hotel on the ridge.

Corte, once the capital of Corsica, was definitely worth visiting, especially the climb to the citadel with its commanding views over the city.

None of us were prepared for the alpine like scenery as we headed south down the centre of the island. The photos in the midday sun do not do it justice, it really was spectacular.

Zonza is a real tourist centre with numerous hotels and restaurants catering for all manner of tourists from walkers and climbers to cyclists and the less energetic sightseers. Our quirky hotel proved to have an excellent restaurant even though the rooms were less than salubrious.

The next day we opted for a 6.30 a.m. start so that we could complete a 4 hour 20 minute walk and still leave the hotel by our 11am check-out.

Planning the walk by downloading bits of a guidebook from Google Books and reading from an iPhone may have been a mistake. Claire and Jonathan’s GPS trackers confirmed that the walk was way longer than the designated 13.7km and we hardly had time to appreciate the scenery as we raced to get back in time for a shower.

Next stop Propriano where we handed back the hire car and picked up a brand new Bali 4.0, a forty foot catamaran that was our home for the next week. The logistics of getting all our provisions and luggage from the hotel at one end of the harbour to the boat at the other worked up a bit of a sweat in 30℃.

But it was all worthwhile for a week of sailing, sunsets and sundowners.

A near tragedy was averted on the first night by Jonathan removing screws from non-essential boat fittings (cabin doors) and then using to extract the wine cork – the maintenance people brought a cork-screw the next day when they came to replace the faulty outboard motor on the dinghy.

We made it across the notoriously windy Strait of Bonifacio to spend two nights (and one very windy day) in Sardinia before heading back to shelter from the forecasted 50 knot overnight winds.

Bonifaccio was our ‘shelter from the storm’. The narrow harbour entrance can hardly be seen from the sea but we were very grateful to enter our relatively sheltered mooring site as the wind outside became more menacing.

Once we had mastered the art of Mediterranean mooring – or at least managed to get the boat securely tethered in rapidly rising winds – we set off in the dingy to explore this delightful old sea-port that is now the place to be seen if you own a super-yacht.

Our fuel bill for the week was 100 euros. The super-yachts had their own fuel tankers and it probably cost them more than 100€ just to leave the harbour.

One last night at anchor before we have to hand the boat the boat back.

A wet and windy last day meant that we had experienced everything from sailing fully reefed to almost becalmed and needing the motor and from clear blue skies to 40 metre visibility in torrential rain squalls. Another fabulous week on the water.

Paris

The most sensible way home from Corsica was a flight to Paris and then on to Abu Dhabi. Obviously we could not miss the opportunity to experience just a little of The City of Light.

Our small ‘boutique’ hotel just off Boulevard Saint-Germain was walking distance from the historic centre of Paris – Ile de la Cité – and so a perfect base from which to explore.

Two nights and one full day was never going to be enough. But as usual we packed in as much as possible.

On Claire and Jonathan’s recommendation we walked half-way across Paris (perhaps a slight exaggeration) to experience the Bouillon Chartier.

We joined a queue that snaked along the street and wound through an entrance foyer but were still seated within 25 minutes. Waiters ran with arms full of dishes, our order was written in pencil on the table cloth and the maître d’ seemed to control everything with military precision. Naturally the food was good.

Long summer evenings meant that the sightseeing could continue as we walked home from the restaurant.

Nigel’s usual solo, early morning exploration was a grey and dreary affair and we both needed raincoats until we emerged from the awning of our chosen breakfast cafè next to Fontaine Saint-Michelle and crossed onto Ile de la Cité to visit Notre Dame and Sainte-Chapelle.

The history of Sainte-Chapelle mostly passed us by but like all visitors we were absolutely in awe of the incredible, all surrounding, stained class windows.

As the sun finally fought its way through the clouds we retraced our steps through Palais du Louvre, on through Jardin des Tuileries and continued in a dead straight line along the Champs-Elysées. Progress was delayed slightly by police security for a Caribbean Festival that had closed the avenue to traffic.