Going south

We headed inland just a little, to an interesting sounding France Passion campsite, at a farm with the simple yet effective name of Camping la Riviere . The France Passion deal here is that the first night is free. Well we have to get our handbook money back and we won't if we don't use it, so here we are. It is Sunday afternoon and this is a bit different. Somehow the farm has created a swimming hole in the river that's so big, they have also been able to construct water slides that leave a goodly drop at the exit between slide and water. The place was heaving with what appeared to be locals.

The restaurant had done a roaring trade judging by the clear-up going on and we joined in by buying our first Corsica brewed beer. This one comes in at 5% not the 6.5% of the other and was very flowery to taste but also a nice change. Not the sort of drink that we would down a pint or two of though and anyway the prices were a little steep, as they are across most of the island. €4 for 25cl bottle was the same as at Calvi's posh waterfront.

The camping area was a hundred metres or so behind the market garden part of the farm and stretched over several acres of burnt ground with a few trees providing shade. The campers that are here are well separated from each other and we got established under our own tree.

There are rudimentary showers and basins but most of our ablutions and washing-up were done at the Landy with the water thrown anywhere where it looked as if it might do good.

It was a good site for playing a little music slightly loader than normal. We have been listening to Mariza, specifically her album Fado Em Mim.  Try listening to "Chuva" and see if you agree. She's Portuguese not French but her music seems appropriate for sultry nights under the stars.

It is sultry too, so there's nothing for it other than to pull a cork and sit back.

Bonifacio is at the southern tip of Corsica and we headed there, camping just inland at a highly organised, "holiday" campsite, U Farnienta, which has a very impressive waterpark. We are now in high season prices and so had to fully use the facilities to justify it.

The town is built on and around amazing limestone cliffs which are brilliant white and fantastically eroded to form a perfect natural, fjord-like  harbour.

It actually rained for a few minutes as we caught the edge of a spectacular thunderstorm. It was all a bit too much for one guy, local I presume, who stood outside and got soaked, in front of our café. He had his arms outstretched as if he was thanking the Good Lord for the deluge. 

The Moby car ferry goes across to Sardinia which is only a few miles away. It appears that you spend a lot longer waiting on the quay to board and then get underway than you do for the actual crossing.

I couldn't resist Gooooogling the details on this yacht as we sat on the quay with a Bonifacio ice cream. It's the 64th largest yacht in the world and is owned by an Israeli/Kazakh billionaire Alexander Mashkevitch. I wonder if he's here sitting somewhere eating an ice cream too?