Featured Touring Touring To Corsica

We made it!!!
The last weeks my wife and I made up our plans for a tour from Austria to Corsica. The biggest hurdle was to book the ferry crossing from Savona in Italy to Bastia in Corsica under our conditions. 2 bikers, 2 bikes and only one cabin for the over night travel with the ferry. The online systems of all ferry companies did not accept this configuration. The systems would only accept 2 cabins or no cabin. Therefore we had to book it via a travel agency. They also had some issues with the Italians but made it possible. Therefore we will ride in late May on the first day from Austria to Savona in Italy (about 900 km) and take the overnight ferry to Bastia in Corsica. There we already have booked a nice appartement for a week. From Bastia we will explore the whole isle of Corsica. On the last day in Corsica we leave via an other ferry (only 4-5 hours journey time) from Bastia to Livorno in Italy and will ride home with an additional stop over night in Italy. We are really looking forward to this journey.
As always I will come up with some reports and pictures.

 

@Vulpes: I will come up with reports and pictures.

 

@Wessa: Thanks!!!

 

@Tigcraft : Thanks!!!

 

@Stramasher: I am looking forward to the journey. We are preparing ourselves for the long runs before our trip with some smaller touring events in Austria.

 

Today we made up some last preparations for our tour to Corsica which we will start next Friday, the 24th of May.
We tested some motorguards-bags on my wife's bike which we used before on her Tiger900. They fitted. - check!
Then we printed out our travel papers for the ferry - check!
At last we did a chain maintenance on my wife's bike - check!
On Thursday afternoon we will do the packing of our travel items. Due to a pre-booked and fully equipped apartment in Corsica we don't need to take some kitchen items with us. Therefore we will have got enough space without any issues. I will come up with more information soon

 

@Vulpes: Thanks! We booked an apartment in Saint-Florent and will stay there for the whole week. It will be our starting and end point of all touring days in Corsica.

 

Here we are! Now I am able to write down some impressions of our actual tour from Austria to Corsica and our experiences there.

Day 1 (of 9):
We started at 0700 our 950 km trip to Savona in Italy. After the first hour we had the first rain of the day, but not the last one!
Every 250-270 km we had planned a short stop the get some fuel for our bikes. Because of the weather forecast we kept the first break short to be able to rush through the so called "Kanaltal" without any thunderstorm. The "Kanaltal" is a section of alpine conditions on a highway in the length of about 30 km beginning at the border from Austria to Italy. Under dry conditions it is a great section to ride. Many curves on a 2 lane highway in each direction. But the asphalt gets very slippery in rain. We made it nearly dry through this section. Only at the last two kilometres the rain "caught" us.
Nevertheless we had no issues and kept heading southwest down to the coast of the Mediterran Sea. After 9:14 hours of pure travel time and 950 km we arrived at 1830 at the harbour of Savona. From there we had booked a ferry to Corsica. The ferry departure was delayed from 2100 to 2300. Therefore we had some more hours to wait with hundreds of other passengers at the harbour. Luckily for us, the weather forecast was wrong this time. The forecasted rain did not show up and it kept dry and warm. Otherwise we would have been washed through the area of the harbour. At 2215 the loading procedure of the ferry started. Last summer we used a ferry boat from Calais in France to Dover in Great Britain. Everything during the loading process was well planned and executed. This time it got crazy. The combination of Italian and French responsibilities caused to a real chaos in the ship. Bikes had to line along the sides of the loading department. Cars and big trucks depending on their height were "filled" in afterwards. 20 cm space between the cars in front and also to each side, standing in all kind of directions was the result after an endless time. Only a small.not really passable way for the passengers was left to get up to the higher decks of the ferry. After this first extraordinary experience we "climbed" up to our pre-booked cabin and ended up his long day in our beds.
At about 2330 the ferry departed.

A short fuel stop and am additional Espresso at an Italian fuel station. The prize was € 1,85/litre.


This is the type of ferry boat which is used from Italy to Corsica or to Sardinia.


Parking in "Italian style". If there is some place left, then it has to be used to park a bike!


Some special "guest" in an Italian Cafe.


Waiting .....


The beginning of the loading process aka."chaos"!


The ferry arrives at the harbour.


Our cabin - like a submarine.


Result of the loading process.


On the beach at day 2.

 

Day 2 ( of 9):
After a short night we got up at 0600 and packed our overnight luggage and tried to get a breakfast on our ferry. All restaurants or Cafes open at 0630. After a delicious breakfast we got out luggage and wanted to reach the lower decks to get our bikes packed again. At our last trip with a ferry the decks were opened 15 minutes before the planned arrival and the bikers were asked to be the first down at the lower decks to manage their packing of the bikes.
As I had already described the day before with the loading process the unloading was completely chaotic too. The planned arrival was at 0800. But he doors to the lower decks opened at 0805. Therefore hundreds of passengers headed down to their vehicles at the same time. Afterwards the disembarking took nearly one hour, because some big trucks had to drive at first backwards form the ship. Then some bikers with Honda Goldwing's and HD's very not able to pass through the rest of the space between the sidewalls of the ferry and the parked cars....pure chaos. My wife had luck, because she had to park in a front position of the ship and was therefore able to disembark early. I got the chance to leave the ship half an hour later. What a mess!
After this "action" we headed to a small Cafe and drank a good Espresso. Due to our arrival time and our pre-booked apartment we made a three hours ride to "Cap Corse" the most northern part of Corsica. To reach this point you must have some good riding experience. The "road"(?!?).is sometimes a bit tricky and we had some slight rain too. This made the ride really"interesting". Due to some slippery curves on the way down the dead-end"street"(?!?) My bike "grumbled": "Hey man I am a BMW RS, not a GS"!!! And the bike of my wife: "Hey I am a XSR not a Teneree"!!! But all circumstances are forgotten when you arrive there. A.wonderful seashore with a small Cafe. You have to go back the same road for about half a hour and reach then some better roads. Corsica is a paradise for bikers! On this 150 km trip we road only about five kilometers on straight roads. All other parts were curves, hairpin bends and more curves and all of them in a wonderful landscape!





Who is disturbing my sun bath???








Some delicious street food. Salmon wrap.


Sandwich with burger patty, cheese, sauce and frittes inside.

 

@Armando Morales: Thanks Armando! Some more impressions will follow.

 

Day 3 ( of 9):
After a delicious breakfast in our apartment we started today our "history tour" to the town "Calvi". From the 13th to the 15th century the Genoese helped the Corses to erect the Fortress of Calvi. In 1451 Christopher Columbus, the famous discoverer, was born here. The way led us through hilly terrain with wonderful landscapes and as always with an uncountable amount of curves and hairpins. After 1:30 for the 65 km we reached the town. There we got us another Espresso and a croissant. Afterwards we climbed the fortress and had some great experiences there. The complete fortress can be visited for free. Only at the museum you have to pay an entrance fee.
The size of the fortress was an impressive experience. At lunch time we headed back to our apartment and had some lunch in the town of Saint Florent. In the afternoon I jumped into the sea and had some fun with a swarm of little fish which were fascinated of me.
Tomorrow we will visit the old town of Saint Florent. In the following some more impressions.

@Sandi T: We led the coffee machine at home and switched to a directly brewed "Bosnian-Coffee". It is the same like "Turkish" or "Greek-Coffee", but we skip the sugar in it.


The wonderful landscape on our way.


A great cactus along the street.


A non expected "guest" in my photo!!!


A great view from the sea level up into the snow mountains.


In the following some impressions of the fortress.








A "dove wash station" in the wall of the fortress.

 

Day 4 (of 9):
Today we made a recreation-day in the town Saint Florent. We walked through the old and newer parts of the town and found mamy interesting things.
Delicious bakery, funny T-Shirts and we got us two tickets for a cultural event in the evening in the Cathedral of Saint Florent.
A local group from Corsica called "Spartera" who perform chants and polyphonic songs. In the afternoon we had some more fun on the beach. This time we took our snorkeling equipment and watched the underwater wildlife. In a shell we found a hermit crab which was not amused about our disturbance of its duties. Afterwards we had another delicious dinner in a local restaurant and went up a small hill to the cathedral for the concert. This event was really a new experience for us. It was a mixture of old local Corses and sacred songs. Some of them were sung by the four artists a capella and some were accompanied by two guitars which were played by the singers too.
After this concert we walked back to our apartment. Today we made nearly 20 km on foot. As always in the following some impressions.

A part of the old town.


The Citadelle of Saint Florent


At this wonderful place we enjoyed our our delicious bakery.


I have never seen a bike like this before. A kind of a "Piaggio MP3 +"??? With a fourth additional wheel!!!


This is the.view from a local restaurant.


A Fiat 500 completely original

We met this two Rockets on our tour yesterday.


An announcement of our cultural event.


The Cathedral of Saint Florent.


A view from the beach on our way back to our apartment.