Featured Touring Touring To Corsica

@Armando Morales : You are right Armando. Today we will be back on our bikes and explore the island again. This time in the mountainous area.

 

Day 5 (of 9):
Today we started at 0745 our tour from the northern coast line via a mountain area up to the height of about 600 m to the eastern coast of Corsica. After a coffee break we crossed the island from east to west via the highest pass, Col de Vergio, at the height of 1470 m and back again to Saint Florent. The complete tour was a distance of 280 km and about 6 hours of riding. With all the photo stops, breaks and some of the following highlights we came back at 1500 to our accommodation. This "mountain tour" led us to the most impressive areas of Corsica. We rode thousands of curves, many of them hairpins and crossed hundreds of little bridges. The road conditions switched from brand new roads to old ones with endless of potholes. But all those roads led us to unbelievable views of Corsica.
I think I did not mention the speed limits here. Nearly in every village we passed there is a limit of 30 km/h. In some bigger ones your are allowed to ride 50 km/h. To support the compliance of those limits there are uncountable really high flour thresholds installed. Outside of towns and villages there are the limits 70 or 80 km/h.
In some areas with very narrow and hairpin curves sections the Corses use their horns before they pass through for safety reasons. This means from all directions you can always hear horn sounds in such sections. This was surprising for us.
Beside that we had some more experiences with animals on the street. Dogs, cows, goats and the famous Corses pigs passed our way. We were in luck that these animals always appeared in slow riding sections due to the road conditions. It was a great day again. Tomorrow we plan to cross the complete island of Corsica from north to south and back again.
In the following some spectacular impressions of our todays tour.

 

@Wessa; Thanks Wessa. Some more impressions of this trip will follow.

 

Day 6 (of 9):
Today we started our "North to South crossing and back again tour" already at 0700. But at 0730 there was almost a catastrophe. In a tight hairpin bend, my wife and her motorcycle were hit by a truck. Fortunately for her, she was pushed away from the truck like a pinball immediately after the impact and didn't fall. It was a big shock for everyone involved. Nothing happened to my wife as she only made brief contact with the bracket of her handlebar end mirror and the mudguard bracket of the front wheel cushioned the impact. Damage caused: A few dents on the side of the truck and black paint marks. On the bike: Mudguard bracket (plastic) partly and side reflector completely broken. A small scratch on the handlebar end. My wife: Lives by the motto: "Put your crown back on straight again and off you go". So we continued our tour again.
Now I know where the Corses hide their straight roads! All of them are built and combined with hundreds of roundabouts along the east coast of Corsica. We also found a highway in the length of about 9 (!!!) kilometres with a speed limit of 110 km/h. It took us nearly 3 hours to do the 180 km and to reach the town Bonifacio at the south end of Corsica. There we had some refreshments and enjoyed the lovely sights and views in the old town. For bikers there some special parkgrounds available. After about two hours in the old town we started our tour back to our apartment.
Today we did 360 km in 6 hours of riding. We arrived at 1500 hours and were glad that this day has ended in a positive way.
In the following some impressions.

View from Corsica/France to Sardinia/Italy.


View from the most southern part of Corsica along the coast line.


Some.patts of the old town of Bonifacio.


Napoleon Bonaparte's house in the past.




This "little" guy was really funny. It always made "map, map, map" to get some food from the tourists.








The little damage on my wife's bike. Repair costs for parts will be about €200.-

 

@Boothman: Thanks Boothman. You are right. Some new parts and everything is forgotten.

 

@Armando Morales: Thanks Armando. Yes, we keep going.

 

Day 7 (of 9):
After my wife's "pinball action" yesterday we did another recreation day in the surroundings of Saint Florent. The whole morning until lunchtime we did a hike through the wonderful landscape. After half of the way we came to a cafe and had there some delicious refreshments. Fresh squeezed orange juice, a croissant and a good espresso. Afterwards we hiked back through the hilly area to the center of the town and did some shopping. At lunch time we had marvellous pizzas in a beautiful restaurant directly at the sea shore.
After a last swim in the sea we began to pack our equipment. Tomorrow morning, Friday, at 0450 we have to get up and ride directly to the harbour. At 0630 the loading process will start and our ferry should leave Corsica at 0800.
As you may have recognised there are two more days planned on our journey. More Infos will follow soon.
In the following some impressions of today.

Our way through the hills of Saint Florent.








This old bike, I think a russian Dnjepr, was parked in front of the Cafe.








In front of the restaurant we found this interesting BMW Scrambler.

 

@joe mc donald: Many thanks to you Joe!!! You made my day. I feel the same when I am following our other members on their tours.

 

@learningtofly: Many thanks to you!

 

Day 8 (of 9):
As announced yesterday we had an early start at 0450 today. After packing the last items, checking the apartment we rode the last 23 kilometres on Corsica to the harbour in Bastia. The way led us from the north coast over the mountains to the east coast. Due to the street conditions and the collection of hairpin bends and narrow curves it took us 45 minutes to get to the harbour. There we had lots of fun again with the French/Corses and Italian responsibilities for the loading process. Three ferries were disembarked and loaded nearly at the same time. You can imagine the chaos at the harbour. We got an early chance to load our bikes, but instead of 0800 the ferry left the harbour at 0845. Therefore we were nearly the first customers at the local cafe on the ship to get some breakfast. To avoid seasickness, we took appropriate tablets as a preventative measure, as we had found out in the past that we are not seaworthy. This time it had been a really good idea! Due to the stormy weather the waves got a height of 2-3 metres and the ferry boat was moving massively on the sea. Surprisingly, we arrived half an hour ahead of schedule at 1230 in Livorno. The disembarkment for us took this time only half an hour. This "extra" time fitted to our next plan. We rode about half an hour to Pisa to visited the "leaning tower". Hundreds of tourists were on their way to do the same. But we as bikers have an great advantage. There are some special bike parking places available directly at the entrance of the garden/area of the tower. After a week of training we parked our bikes in the Corses way by using every not intended space for our bikes and went for our photo tour.
Afterwards we rode/swam/dived over the Italian highways via Florence, Venice, Padua to our small hotel in Noventa di Piave. The weather conditions were extremely bad in some areas. Thunderstorm, hard rain, storm and hail accompanied us on our way. We ended our day at 1800 and parked the bikes in the garage of the hotel. Tomorrow we will ride the last 6 hours and about 500 kilometres back home and hope for better weather conditions.
In the following some more impressions.

On the sea.


Every mousehole is used to get some stuff on the ferry.


Sometimes you are not able to pass through the narrow spaces between the cars/trucks.


The cafe on the ship where we got our breakfast and spent our whole time on the ship. They offer a really good Italian coffee!


Delicious breakfast. The prices are moderate.


The old lighthouse of the harbour in Livorno.


Disembarkment of the yellow ferry starts.


First view on the tower from the bike parking area.


The "leaning tower of Pisa".


My personal hero

 

@Armando Morales:: That's a good idea, Armando. Biking is great there! Off-road possibilities are also available.