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Monday, June 11th, Porto Ferraio, Elba,
Italy
We
are traveling in Napoleon's shadow lately, stopping in
Corsica one more time after our stay in Budelli and
before making our way to Elba on Thursday night.
Although we never did visit Ajaccio, the capital of
Corsica and Napoleon's birthplace, we did visit his home
in exile in Porto Ferraio, Elba. Alex Corven, an
old friend from my high school days in Rome, took the
train up from the city and hopped on a ferry over to the
island to spend a week or so with us. Elba has a
lot to offer in terms of beautiful hillside villages,
beaches and lush green landscapes.
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Our last day in Budelli was a much needed day of
swimming, kayaking and playing on the beach after our
week of dealing with mistral winds. Big day
tripper boats would come by, reciting over loudspeakers
their narratives in French or Italian describing our
surroundings. Passengers gawked and took pictures
of us hanging out on our catamarans as much as they did
at the beautiful scenery.
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Cenou and Zia were definitely anchored in the prime spot
as we watched a dozen other charter boats fill in the
spaces around us. As expected, all but two or
three cleared out by nightfall.
The next morning brought a stronger than predicted
breeze and we enjoyed a brisk sail northward to Porto
Vecchio, on the southeastern tip of Corsica. The
town is nestled at the end of the large bay, fringed by
high mountains to the south and marshlands to the north.
The walk up to the town was well worth while, offering
quaint streets lined with shops and restaurants.
Everywhere we go we hear of the crowds that clog the
area during the months of July and August and we give
thanks for being able to enjoy it in a more peaceful
time.
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One of the reasons for coming back to France was to go grocery
shopping one more time. Rike and I made the walk
to the Hyper U super store for our last chance at
authentic French staples. I still have not quite
overcome my obsession with overstocking the pantry.
I carted home 400 Euros worth of spices, sauces, wine,
cheese, foie gras and other delicacies. I spent
the next four hours cleaning out my under-sofa storage
areas, a chore that I had not done since we moved
onboard, in order to make room for it all. Can you imagine the amount of sand, dirt
and crumbs that find their way through the cushions and
cracks and into these quarters? Happy and stocked
to the brim, we spent the day at the beach before taking
off for Elba, a 100 mile overnight sail.
Sailing with Cenou is very good for us. Claude
hates to motor. Looking at the forecast, we
devised a strategy to take the most advantage of the
predicted wind that was supposed to fill in from the
north in the middle of the night. We motored
straight up the coast for 50 miles before heading out on
a northeasterly course. The strategy worked
perfectly and we wound up sailing the whole rest of the
way. As we approached the southeastern corner of
the island, the wind did a sudden shift and we found
ourselves tacking back and forth to make it around the
corner and into Porto Azzurro. It was a great
exercise for us, since we usually would have just fired
up the engines.
A
wonderful surprise greeted us in Elba when Alex decided
to meet us there. Thanks to email and a little
persistence, we have managed to keep in touch over the
years, seeing each other every three years, if not more
often. As a
matter of fact, twenty-one years ago, after I had
finished my exams during my junior year of college in
Florence, Alex and a group of friends who were also
studying in Italy took a weekend trip to Elba. It
had to be right around the same time of year, too.
Reuniting here after so long is a real joy.
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Aside from enjoying his companionship, we are also
taking advantage of Alex's extensive knowledge of the
area and ability to speak Italian. He has visited
most of the islands that dot this area of the Italian
coast and is sharing all of his best recommendations
with us. He has a cousin who lives in Sicily and
an Aunt who lives in the Aeolian Islands north of Sicily
and we look forward to meeting up with them thanks to
him as well.
We
are planning to head towards the island of Giglio today.
We'll be in Porto Santo Stefano, on the mainland about
75 miles north of Rome, by Friday in order to meet our
next guests, the Martin family. It is not looking
very promising for us to visit Rome in the boat.
We haven't been able to make a reservation at a marina
and there are no options for anchoring. We could
try to just wing it and show up and we probably would
get a spot somewhere, but we aren't sure we want to go
through the stress of that approach. If it didn't
work, we'd be 75 miles away from our next viable port.
So, we might wind up going to Rome by train or plane at
some later stage in our travels. Oh well.
Next Entry
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Many thanks to our friend Craig Homenko for his assistance in setting up the website.
We also would like
to thank our buddy Scott Brunner who has been kind
enough to host the website on his server.
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