After the coast of the south-east it was good to drive back into the mountains to see the scenery of central Corsica. First stop was Zonza and a little river swimming just below the nice campsite, Camping la Rivière and then a round walk at up from the col at Bavella (parked next a statue, Notre-Dame des Neiges, to into the mountains on a well marked path to a landmark feature in the granite.
We have learnt to get the solar panel in full sun and use the sun shade if we need it. The fridge works hard in these temperatures but the Decathlon sunshade is a great addition to the kit we carry. It is only supplied with two poles as it is a "tarp" but we bought two additional telescopic poles, maximum length of these is 2.3m. They are the ones at the Landy end, high enough to clear the back door. The two sectional steel poles with the shade are used at the other end and as they don't have the shock cord or springs to hold them together, they can be set to the most suitable length to hide the sun.
We also added extra guys, two at each pole. Thus the sheet can be tensioned fully and can be left out in wind. There's even extra guys clamped at the mid-point of the sides using a releasable "crocodile" jaw thing that grips the material. These cost peanuts on eBay, along with a good length of guy rope.
The road continued past beautiful villages and the hairpins never end.
We have learnt to get the solar panel in full sun and use the sun shade if we need it. The fridge works hard in these temperatures but the Decathlon sunshade is a great addition to the kit we carry. It is only supplied with two poles as it is a "tarp" but we bought two additional telescopic poles, maximum length of these is 2.3m. They are the ones at the Landy end, high enough to clear the back door. The two sectional steel poles with the shade are used at the other end and as they don't have the shock cord or springs to hold them together, they can be set to the most suitable length to hide the sun.
We also added extra guys, two at each pole. Thus the sheet can be tensioned fully and can be left out in wind. There's even extra guys clamped at the mid-point of the sides using a releasable "crocodile" jaw thing that grips the material. These cost peanuts on eBay, along with a good length of guy rope.
As we began our walk, in the early morning before the cars jam the pass, through binoculars we could see a little sport climbing (using pre-placed bolts for safety) on the lower slopes of this massif.
This was quite a nice rock feature, made all the more photogenic when the mist flowed through it from one side to the other.
The road continued past beautiful villages and the hairpins never end.
This drive was on a road marked as un-surfaced on our 2008 atlas but now it has been completed.
We drove towards Corte, staying just south at the best campsite yet! This is Peridundellu at Venaco.
Charges were personnes x2 €10, emplacement €3.5, plus taxes of 0.30 each = €14.10 per night
High in the mountains, this is an absolute gem. It is small, on the side of a valley, with easy access down to the best river swimming ever. Plus, Monsieur Le Patron is the best host, running the campsite and a small private restaurant for campers, where each night he provides a set three course menu at €14.50.
We enjoyed staying here so much that we stayed for three nights and ate his meals each night too. The main courses were Sanglier (wild boar), Aubergine stuffed with meat, and Cannelloni. His house wine was €3 for 1/2 litre. The desert was always billed as Surprise. Of course one evening this was crème brulée. The surprise was which night it would be. For reference, the wild boar sits very heavily on the stomach.
Most campsites take an order for morning bread but only here does Le Patron personally deliver it to your pitch. Ours was marked accordingly as we are the only GBs here. In fact we haven't seen any Brits anywhere! Most other campers here are German and Austrian, in fact it must be featured in an Austrian camping publication as they outnumbered the rest.
The river below the campsite is fed from some of the highest mountains on the island and has plenty of water flowing. The first swimming place makes a classic picture.
The second though, featured the deepest swimming holes, going far under the rocks, two or three metres deep in places. There was a significant drop too with a fair amount of rushing water providing some invigorating, muscle relaxing sessions.
It is a beautiful spot.
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