This blog entry starts on board a ferry heading from Calvi in Corsica to Nice in France. If the writing is a bit shaky, it’s because, despite its size, the ship is rolling from side to side. Adrian is focussed on the TV on the wall which doesn’t move, as he doesn’t like this sort of rock ‘n roll. Even the bartender is a little concerned (for his grog that is) as he said “Mamma mia” and promptly moved all his bottles to a lower shelf.
Our plans to visit the north eastern part of Corsica called Cap Corse were changed after a Sunday’s drive - lots of bends and beaches that
didn’t inspire. So after two nights at Erbalunga, we headed west across the top of the island towards Calvi, a large port town. En route we passed through the beachside town of St Florent and then traversed the Desert of Agriates, very rugged mountain terrain unlike any other landscape we have ever seen, and certainly not typical of our notion of a desert as there were trees and scrubby growth. We had considered stopping at Algajola, another seaside town, but again the beaches didn’t look great (Sardinia has spoilt us) and so onwards to Calvi where we spent two nights. Calvi is an attractive and interesting town with a citadel on the headland. At some stage Christopher Columbus lived there as there were signs to his house and there were hotels and streets named after him. After Calvi, we 
headed south to Porto, located in the Gulf of Porto, a UNESCO world heritage area, famous for its sunsets as it is surrounded by high red cliffs. The little town of Galeria was about an hour down the coast - there was an inland route and a coast route. Having travelled for 6 km down the coast road the previous day we opted for the securer feeling of the inland route. Besides it was 15 minutes faster.
From Galeria the road to Porto
became progressively more scary. The road was winding and so narrow in parts only one car could fit. There were minimal guard rails, some only made from small rocks neatly placed side by side as if bordering a rose garden rather than a sheer drop to the sea or chasm hundreds of metres below. There was quite a bit of evidence of falling rocks and in parts it definitely looked like landslide territory. Nevertheless there were the perennial tour buses and Adrian commented that you would have to be gutsy to drive a bus here. The little hillside town of Piana was only 12 km 
further south than Porto. We are really glad that we did that drive because the scenery was stunning, even though the roads were even more narrow and buses would sound their horns as they navigated the blind curves. We were thankful that we didn’t have to reverse to let them pass. This photo of Adrian was taken at one of our panoramic stops, but he was very nervous and opted to sit rather than stand. En route back to Calvi on Friday 2 October, we beach hopped, stopping in at three of the small coves - Bussaglia, Caspiu and Gradelle. It was at the last of these that 
we were in for a surprise. We shared the beach with several of the local cows, some reclining on the sand as if sunbaking and taking in the view. Talk about contented cows and why wouldn’t they be? In fact, there were more cows than people. We had seen cows by the side of the road mooching about and eating whatever they could find. We came across this one sitting on the road at the top of one of the ascents, almost as if she was having a rest after the climb. Each of these beach drives necessitated some lengthy descents from the hilltop villages above. The water was crystal clear and warm and the environment so peaceful and tranquil.
didn’t inspire. So after two nights at Erbalunga, we headed west across the top of the island towards Calvi, a large port town. En route we passed through the beachside town of St Florent and then traversed the Desert of Agriates, very rugged mountain terrain unlike any other landscape we have ever seen, and certainly not typical of our notion of a desert as there were trees and scrubby growth. We had considered stopping at Algajola, another seaside town, but again the beaches didn’t look great (Sardinia has spoilt us) and so onwards to Calvi where we spent two nights. Calvi is an attractive and interesting town with a citadel on the headland. At some stage Christopher Columbus lived there as there were signs to his house and there were hotels and streets named after him. After Calvi, we 
headed south to Porto, located in the Gulf of Porto, a UNESCO world heritage area, famous for its sunsets as it is surrounded by high red cliffs. The little town of Galeria was about an hour down the coast - there was an inland route and a coast route. Having travelled for 6 km down the coast road the previous day we opted for the securer feeling of the inland route. Besides it was 15 minutes faster.From Galeria the road to Porto
became progressively more scary. The road was winding and so narrow in parts only one car could fit. There were minimal guard rails, some only made from small rocks neatly placed side by side as if bordering a rose garden rather than a sheer drop to the sea or chasm hundreds of metres below. There was quite a bit of evidence of falling rocks and in parts it definitely looked like landslide territory. Nevertheless there were the perennial tour buses and Adrian commented that you would have to be gutsy to drive a bus here. The little hillside town of Piana was only 12 km 
further south than Porto. We are really glad that we did that drive because the scenery was stunning, even though the roads were even more narrow and buses would sound their horns as they navigated the blind curves. We were thankful that we didn’t have to reverse to let them pass. This photo of Adrian was taken at one of our panoramic stops, but he was very nervous and opted to sit rather than stand. En route back to Calvi on Friday 2 October, we beach hopped, stopping in at three of the small coves - Bussaglia, Caspiu and Gradelle. It was at the last of these that 
we were in for a surprise. We shared the beach with several of the local cows, some reclining on the sand as if sunbaking and taking in the view. Talk about contented cows and why wouldn’t they be? In fact, there were more cows than people. We had seen cows by the side of the road mooching about and eating whatever they could find. We came across this one sitting on the road at the top of one of the ascents, almost as if she was having a rest after the climb. Each of these beach drives necessitated some lengthy descents from the hilltop villages above. The water was crystal clear and warm and the environment so peaceful and tranquil. 
On arrival at Nice port we were a little frustrated that there were no buses to transport ferry passengers into town. So we walked about 3 km to a bus stop from where we knew we could catch one to the airport, to collect our Peugeot. Unfortunately we forgot to program Karen properly and she was set to avoid toll roads. We discovered this after several kms along the coast road to Antibes and so backtracked getting stuck in local bumper to bumper traffic and wasting almost an hour. We arrived safely in the small village of Entrecasteaux at 7:30 pm after a long day’s travel and, as we unlocked our front door, we were warmly greeted by the owner of the restaurant next door shouting out Bonjour, Bonjour (in fact the restaurant is literally 4 paces from our front door!). As we had nothing to eat in the house for dinner we decided to eat there and enjoyed a lovely three course meal in a pleasant setting.
Our first day here was spent exploring some of the village, unpacking, washing and visiting one
of the local markets to stock up on some food as it was Sunday and not much is open. It is a very small village with only 900 inhabitants, but our cottage is in a very central spot adjacent to the XI-XVII century chateau with a public garden designed by Le Notre, the same man who created the gardens of Versailles. Here is our cottage.
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