Bonifacio Harbour
Bonifacio Streets
Ajaccio
Maison de Bonapart
Where Napoleon was Baptised
As Gone with the Wind saw us
The post passage dinner
This will have to be a quick update as we are about to up anchor. ANOTHER LOOK AT BONIFACIO When we last wrote we had just moored to the shore in Bonifacio harbour. The wind was strong so we waited for a quiet time to revisit the town. We spent a few hours marveling at the structure of the fortified town on top of the hill. We wandered through the narrow streets and covered stairways leading down to the shore. We spent two nights moored up there. SOME QUIET TIME We then moved on with "Gone with the Wind" and "Balvenie" up the west coast of Corsica. Our aim at this point was to swim in clean warm water, relax and enjoy the sunshine. The water temperature is around 28 degrees and we have stayed in some stunningly beautiful bays in flat conditions. We went into the small holiday towns and experienced the local cuisine. We are enjoying the French food, particularly the cheese, pate, sea food and baguettes. The local wine is good value but fruit and vege are very expensive ($9 a kilo for most fruits). Looks like we will have to survive on sea food and wine, oh what a hard life! THE BUST CITY On Friday 23rd we went into Ajaccio (Photo 3) which is the capital of Corsica. This is a full on city and the birth place of Napoleon Bonaparte. The city is located in a big bay with good protection. As strong winds were forecast, there were at lease one hundred yachts at anchor. This always causes a bit of excitement as invariably someone fails to set their anchor and drags. Once we were confident that "Eye Candy" was safe, we put the fenders out and went into town.
We took the tourist train around town and saw the monuments and significant buildings. There were several statues of Napoleon in various guises. We then walked around the old town and Citadel which dates back to 1554. We saw the house Napoleon was born in (Photo 4) and the church he was christened in (Photo 5).
RACING AGAIN Yesterday the three boats traveled 25 miles further north, and the usual race ensued. We had the spinnaker up (Photo 6) which immediately caused an unofficial protest from Team New Zealand (Balvenie) who decided coloured sails were not allowed. But considering they had three sails up (jib, staysail and main), we decided that there was no case to answer.
Last night we had a farewell dinner on "Gone with the Wind" (Photo 7). We will travel back to Ajaccio today and "Balvenie" and "Gone with the Wind" are heading north. We had a great night and it is sad to say goodbye after spending two months traveling, drinking and telling sailing lies together. They left the anchorage this morning to the tune of Andrea Bocelli's "Time to Say Good Bye" transmitted over the VHF radio. It was quite moving.
SO WHAT NEXT We are heading for Ajaccio this morning in preparation of picking up our Aussie friend, Kathryn, tomorrow. We are looking forward to seeing her and from her emails we gather she is eager to chill out for a few days with friends.
Love CANDY xx
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