To the sea, to the mainland [Verhsa > Bastia; 7/29-7/31, 107mi]

I made my way down to Bonifacio, a town hanging on the cliffs of the southern tip of Corsica with more scenic coastal roads and coffee stops.

pretty beaches, pretty 'girls'

On my way back up the east coast I passed through the town of Porto Vecchio, which is slated to be the finish town when the Tour de France races a stage on Corsica for the very first time in 2013. Actually the first (and only) I'd ever heard of Corsica before going to France was hearing about it when the race organizers announced that they'd be racing here. The stage starts in Calvi (where I arrived from Nice) and finishes in here in Porto Vecchio, although I'm unsure of their route. After riding all the legendary passes in the Alps, it's fun to be someplace before the Tour comes.

 As I've said it's really hot here, but the warm and inviting Mediterranean Sea offers some exquisite respite with afternoon dips in lovely locales like this:

They grow some amazing produce on this island: orchards of all sorts and particularly delicious melons, peaches and herbs. There are also massive fig and chestnut trees which haven't come into harvest season yet, unfortunately. Roadside fruitstands abound everywhere and have some awfully tasty offerings. Semi-wild livestock (pigs, goats and cows) wonder around the island and specifically famous are the Corsan pigs, who fatten up on a diet of chestnuts before being turned into aged sausages. I tried some Corsan sausage from a supermaket- perhaps I made the mistake of buying the cheapest variety I could find, as I wasn't particularly impressed.  

My final day was a long and mostly flat push north to the port town of Bastia where I'd catch a ferry over to Italy. The Goddess of Island Winds took pity on my suffering back in Iceland, and she pushed me along all day with nice sea breezes at my back. I made the final 75mi by 3:30pm with plenty of time to get to the ferry ticket office and square away my passage in the morning. One last night camped next to the beach just south of Bastia, I got in a refreshing evening swim and fixed a beachside dinner with two Germans who were just starting a 2 week tour around the island themselves. Nice to have my first conversation in English in over a week, and fun to have some expertise to share with them.

bound for Livorno, Italy

goodbye, Corsica