Corsica Ferries 19

The port of Nice wasn't designed with the loading of car ferries in mind. The crowded approach ended at the quayside where a queue of sorts was already forming. Our paperwork was checked once by a cheeky lad who greeted us with a Sir Tim and Mademoiselle Peel and then changed it to Sir Timothy before changing it back to Tim after I hit him. A cursory glance "in the box" (the back) and then we waited for the call to drive around the corner. Very slowly we progressed along the quay with vehicles getting more and more tightly packed. With the ferry nowhere to be seen (it actually docked at 1.30 pm) we all started to warm up.

Happily there was a Defender 90 in front and I practised my French Land Rover knowledge by talking to the owner, a senior citizen who spends part of his time on Corsica and the other part somewhere near Nice. I introduced him to ma femme and he introduced me to his fille, pas ma femme!  There was plenty of LR stuff to discuss as we waited and waited.

In spite of the traffic and heat, Nice has to be one of the nicest ports to use. The ferry berth is as close to the road as you can imagine, with apartments directly opposite. As we left the berth the whole sweep of the bay opened up and then we were off on a mere 5hr cruise across the Med. to Bastia.

The two Land Rovers got primary positions for a quick getaway at the stern and with no formalities at all, we disembarked quickly and headed north, up the coast. to our nominated campsite, Camping La Pietra at Marine de Pietracorbara.

We like it here already. It is France with a twist. It feels older yet is full of everything modern. It isn't yet busy, at least not where we are, however we are told that July and August are very busy.

It is absolutely spectacular, with mountains dropping direct to the sea. The highest point is about 2,700m so there are some serious hills around!

Our first few days will take us anti-clockwise around Cap Corse, the big peninsular at the north of the island. This is the view from the north end of the Cap. It's the place where we camped on our second night. More of this next time...