After 14 days of lousy connectivity, finally in Bonifacio, we have Royal Hotel wifi. Somephotosnext post.

Fri 14 – Tue 18 August 2026

Alyssa and Jenny arrive for a few days and it’s a series of breakfast on the terrace, lunch under the trees, swims in the pool as the days remain hot, and long evening dinners with bottles of Sancerre wine, specially kept for the occasion. A very relaxing few days needed by all.

Heading to Corsica

Wed 19 – Fri 21 August 2026

Lady P has planned ten days in Corsica at a beach side apartment as a treat for her birthday. And of course, the builders are all on summer break. It is an 800+km road trip followed by an overnight 12 hr car ferry ride. Since we’re not 30 somethings with three grizzling kids anymore, we decide to break up the drive and stay overnight in Narbonne, a beautiful, old Roman town beside the Canal du Midi. The only downside was the small but nicely done bed sit. A great location with an easy walk to the canal and bars and a ‘truly locals’ Turkish restaurant, but the little room was stifling hot. The poor old pedestal fan just not doing the job. A trying night.

The next day’s drive to Toulon was on the A9 and going the other way  was bumper to bumper with a 10km traffic jam due to a car carrier catching alight and completely burning out.

The car ferry was a big ship but less than half full. Our cabin was unfortunately directly above the nine thumping and rattling engines and next to the nine groaning and loud exhausts. Not a comfortable night despite a nice, comfortable bed and ensuite - and a very stiff nightcap.

There were lots of Italians on board, as staff and tourists, so Flashy slipped seamlessly into his restaurant and railway Italian to order a nice meal in La Dolce Vitae restaurant.

Then at 6.00 am we arrived in Bastia, Corsica, on the north east tip of the island. One hour south is Linguizzetta, our beach apartment. Problem is, check in time is 3 pm. At this early arrival time the few port side cafes that are open are full of very sleepy tourists with large bags. They’d be the cheap seats who slept on the floor of the bars and alleyways aboard the ferry. We see them in the various places we visit, such as the museum, as we all try and amuse ourselves for 8 hours.

By the time we discover Restaurant La Plage on the way home - absolute beach front on the nuddie beach and have a good meal and a beverage, we are only 10 minutes from home. Why is it that all the nude people passing our restaurant are, how shall I say – not the trim, taught and terrific younger ones? Still, some of the young ladies mustn’t have paid much for their bikinis. What’s six square inches of fabric worth?

Eventually we are at the apartment. Drop the bags, crash asleep for two hours, then up and at em! The beach is crowded with bright umbrellas, bodies of all shapes and sizes, lots of young families and the dulcet sound of Italian wafting in the air.

Having a beer and Spritz in the beach side pop up, Chez Babbo, we notice three large butts of pork on a spit. It appears that tonight about 100 folks will come to a sold out dinner, complete with Corsican singers. All under the hessian and lights on the sand above the beach. We, however, have an early night in our air conditioned apartment.

Saturday 22 August 2026

The forecast rain has missed us and it’s hot. So down to the beach she goes. Flashy follows after some admin. After an hour he is cooked. She turns over for some more rays. Eventually, seeking some WIFI connectivity, as there is none in the apartment, we head down the beach to the Chez Babbo beach bar. They do food and beverages seven days a week and the Aperol Spritz and bier pression (grande please) is delicious. The young guns at the bar speak Italian by the sound (volume) of it, as their first language and French and very good English. So, ordering starts out in French, then a little Italian and eventually “Please sit down and I will bring it to you.” In English. Nice lads.

Home in the afternoon as the beach sand becomes red hot, Flashy is double cooked and a little nap is in order.

We decided that the beach shelter we borrowed from Johnny should be taken tomorrow, along with the camping chairs. That way, Flashy can escape the hot sun and we can sit in comfort while we enjoy a little Mediterranean picnic.

So, it says “erect in 2 minutes.” That’s the shelter. You know the type. Spring loaded, fold and cross your arms twist and bingo! Who should do it? An ex Girl Guide, Virgo, designer or an Aquarian with more careers than Allan Bond? So, she practices in the apartment so not to be embarrassed on the beach. Flashy gives encouraging advice and it’s up. Folded eventually and back in the jaunty shoulder bag for the beach tomorrow.

Sunday 23 August 2026

Our beach is a very short walk away and is ‘not fine and not course’ sand. The water is clear, full of little fish and a delightful 29C. The air temp is 30C. The female of the beach bathing species all have tiny thong bikinis, even the old tarts. Isn’t that refreshing?

And there’s lots of Italian, German and some French accents, but no English from any part of the Empire. Makes for good listening.

Off early to the beach, loaded with said shelter and chairs, home made dips, fried bread, chorizo fume salami, Brebis and Brie cheeses and slices of rockmelon, all on ice. Got our favourite spot, as there were not too many on the beach at 10.00 am. And there we stayed, swam, crawled in and out of the shelter and sunbaked until one member of the party needed coffee. Chez Baboo to the rescue. One cappuccino and a cold Corona - and they have a phone signal. An hour surveying the beach and getting intermittent communication out to the family.

Back to our spot and the beach is now more crowded. Wonderful people watching. Our picnic was delicious, consumed with water this time. You can’t be too decadent! Then, more swims before abandoning the very hot sand for home and an ice cream and a little power nap.

A 5 pm gin and tonic on our veranda is taken before we wander back to Chez Baboo for dinner. Do not panic. We will explore the delights of other culinary establishments as the 10 day, summer stress break continues.

Monday 24 August 2026

Today is an admin day. Seeking wifi, we drove to Aleria, a larger town about half an hour away. A stop at a tiny 7/11 equivalent at the end of our village for some water and a baguette while we fed the new 3-station laundromat pop-up our washing. There is only one road down the east coast and it was fairly busy.  Then we saw blue flashing lights and a traffic jam. It turned out that a possibly dead (didn’t look to good to Flashy) motorcyclist was being loaded into an ambulance. Not surprised. The riders here wear beach clothes and weave in and out of traffic. Sad to see though.

Aleria was hot and not much shade, so a cooling beer and spritz ordered at a nice bar. “Wifi mate?” “No.” However, we did manage to get a 4G signal and make some contact with family and do some business at international roaming rates.

Leclerc provided essentials like tonic and gin, a Corsican red wine and a local salami. The fishing shop next door got Lady P a floaty for the sea. Looking for better wifi, we headed to the beach and to a beach side restaurant, famous for its fish burger -  if being on Facebook is famous?

Well, the burgers were up to spec; the frites crispy and hot and the Corsican white wine very good.

Tuesday 25 August 2026

Frustration continues with the lack of any phone signal in the apartment. Hence no wifi either. So much so that Lady P has decided to leave here two days early and go to the bottom of the island to a hotel in Bonifacio. I wonder if that will be any better?

There were violent storms and even a tornado along the south coast of France last night and the sea here was quite rough this morning. Flashy went in, and straight out again, as the water was murky. That’s good shark conditions, so while it was a pleasant temperature, best not to tempt fate. Home to the cement pond for a swim. It’s not a bad little pool, surprisingly.

There is rumour of a bar on the hill above us. And it turned out to be true. Perched on the top of the hill above our apartment is a large wood fired pizza and specialist artisanal glace restaurant. Having discovered it was open and admiring the view, it would have been rude not to have a drink or two, Corse wine is actually quite good, with a range of grape varieties only known to aliens but good full bodied reds and spicy whites.

Wednesday 26 August 2026

Lady P’s birthday and an early start for the 45 minute drive south to Solenzarra for our day sailing. Corse is still, not surprisingly given its history, strongly Italian and has a Basque like streak for independence. The bloody drivers, like Italians, believe that a speed limit is a suggestion only and that overtaking on double lines on a blind corner is perfectly acceptable.

We meet Obe our skipper at his ‘all things Corse’ shop, pay his wife in cash only, get conned into buying some Corsican wine, mustard and sardines and discover that he speaks not a word of English. Apart from booommmerang and kingarou. We get his French when he says he loves Australia and hopes to come and stay with Flashy and Lady P at some stage. Our other French passengers arrive. Two couples with kids. The 40 year olds – she also having a birthday today – have two charming girls 7 and 11. They have no English but smile a lot. The other maybe 50’ish couple have a teenage daughter. They have no English. The 10 of us will all be on the 49 foot yacht for nearly nine hours. Welcome to our first ‘French Immersion’ day!

The yacht was very clean and comfortable and with the Basque and Corse flags flying (no Tricolor), we motored into the wind, south towards Porto Vecchio stopping for a snack and a Heineken at 10.30 am. Obe had the first of his seven stubbies for the day. Flashy and one other of the kind gentlemen made sure he didn’t drink alone. There was no safety briefing; no wearing lifejackets, if indeed there were any; and the kids roamed the deck as they pleased.

Here the water was crystal clear, sandy bottom and lots of fish. We all swam in the warm, salty Med.

The next stop was lunch and a feast of deli meats, bread, sundried tomato tapenade and pork rillettes. Corsican white wine, of which Obe had half a bottle. Another brilliant swim in amazingly clean and clear water.

The return trip was under sail, with a southerly moving us at 3 knots. The only sound was Obe’s continuous commentary - political, historical and geographic, which we sort of got the gist but would have liked to understand more. After stubby number six, Obe put some English and French music on Spotify, which we all enjoyed. He started to sing a bit too.

By stubby number seven, we were almost back at the marina, where with expert seamanship, Obe parked the yacht backwards into a very tight berth.

You really couldn’t have asked for a better day. Not too hot with a little cloud, crystal clear warm and very salty water, some French practice with friendly and polite fellow travellers, delightful and cheeky young girls, who had an absolute ball and were largely unsupervised all day and skipper Obe – one out of the box that man.

Two very crusty Aussies home to a shower, gin and tacos in that order.

Thursday 27 – Sunday 30 August 2026

In comparison to yesterday, it was overcast and humid on Thursday. Not much of a beach day. Even the kiddies beach had waves. We discovered that the Corse salami Flashy bought was nicely smoked and spicy, so another platter lunch. Also surprising was the white and rose wine we had at the beach bar pre-dinner. Considering it came out of a box, it was pretty good and a generous pour too.

Friday is our last day in Linguizzetta, as we have cut the stay here short due to the lack of comms and will head to Bonifacio for two nights tomorrow. Bigger town - hotel stay.

Yes, Bonifacio is a beautiful hill top town thronging with tourists.