Mick Paskins Blog

France 2022 – Part 4

France 2022 – Part 4

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  • Fri 21st Jan
    Slept surprisingly well on our roadside stop. Went looking for somewhere to park in Toulon, it really is a nightmare place, heavy traffic, the most confusing junctions anywhere, and parked cars in every conceivable orifice. I wonder how many of all the cars driving around are actually looking for somewhere to park. That’s now three cities completely jammed up to the gills with parked cars – Zaragoza, Millau, and now Toulon. We eventually found, with real difficulty, a car park with five reserved spaces for motorhomes. And one of the spaces was free! (The other spaces had cars parked in them). The charge for the car park, and it was quite big, and full, was €2.50 for 24 hours, that includes cars. With things this busy, seems absurdly cheap.
    Anyway, this gave us an opportunity to book our ferry tickets – we sail tomorrow evening, for Ajaccio, the birthplace of Napoleon, on Corsica.
    And then had a chance to wander round Toulon, the centre of which is pedestrian, leading down to marina and port. Although, to get to them there is a five lane highway to cross.
    And, in the evening, at last, a restaurant, and a very nice meal.
  • Pizza again
    I’ve nothing against pizza. In fact, I’ve occasionally enjoyed a slice of pizza from Infinity Foods as an alternative to a cheese and tomato sandwich. But not as a meal. In the car park where we were in Toulon there is a van selling pizza. Just over the road is a wooden hut, with a machine for dispensing pizzas. An automatic pizza dispenser. Activate the screen, select which one and pay. There is a slot for it to pop out.

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    We went to back to the marina, where there are a whole load of restaurants lining the waterfront – at least twenty. At least four of them were pizza restaurants. We had a very nice meal, our second restaurant in two days. But not a pizza. Although I sometimes wonder if I am missing something, I have come to the conclusion the people who frequent pizza restaurants are missing something.
    Am now writing this the following morning as we approach Ajaccio on the ferry, to disembark at 8.00 am.

  • Sun 23rd Jan
    Disembarked at Ajaccio on Corsica at 8.00 am, parked to allow Beckie to do her stuff, and found the internet not working. And it’s Sunday, everything closed. After a great deal of ineffectual and guffufling, switched the router off and back on again. It connected. Why? Why should that be necessary? Who gained what by that? Why don’t I understand all this stuff? Google failed to answer any of these questions. Oh well.
    As we were in the birthplace of Napoleon, and there didn’t seem to be anything much else in Ajaccio, decided to go to the house where Napoleon was born. It was made very clear that the house was much changed since his birth, but was now a museum. The house proved to be astonishingly large, I had an audio commentary, that was very comprehensive, but mostly about his family.
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    The house even had a ballroom! Furniture of the period, but subsequently purchased and displayed in the house. Sue was in a half a mind whether to go in, I suggested she really ought, so off she went, only to find we had bumped into lunch time. She really hadn’t missed much.
    Drove north from Ajaccio, finally leaving town, and then climbed steeply to cross a range of hills, stopping at the summit for lunch.
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    Just look at that view, and that weather. We were joined by a chap who really needed a sit down. He had cycled there. From Amsterdam! Warm, cloudless sky, no wind.
    Drove on a bit, down to the coast and parked up for the night.
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    Our park for the night, view from the drivers seat.
    On the hill behind us was the ruins of a castle, unable to find any information about it, but made a fine walk.
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    The surprising inside of the Keep.
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    And the view out of the window opening.

  • Mon 24th Jan
    At Sagone, we were informed by the tourist office that the obvious route north was blocked by a rock fall, which left the only other route via the mountains available. Before going that way, we visited Cargese, and the painted church there.
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    Then back to Sagone, and the route over the mountains. The road snaked up and up until we reached the summit of the pass, through dramatic scenery, on a warm and cloudless day. When we left Sagone the temperature was 21 degrees, when we reached the summit, at around 3,500 feet (higher than Snowdon), it was decidedly chilly, with snow in places. We did contemplate spending the night there, but decided against, as we are experiencing cold starry nights, and the morning descent may be frosty and slippery, so we pressed on. We were heading for a town named Porto, and the road became increasingly exciting, as it snaked round a gorge of stunning proportions and grandeur. Fortunately, there were very few other vehicles, because the road was very narrow for quite long stretches. Finally made it to Porto.
    All the possible places to stay, listed by Park4Night, were a short way up the “other” road, which was closed. There is a closed campsite, but the barrier was up, so went in anyway. Drove up the winding road through the clearly deserted campsite, and found eventually a level area to stop. Shortly afterwards, a lady from the campsite arrived, and we negotiated a price of €10.00 for the night.

  • Tue 25th Jan
    Drove out of Porto, heading north, on the most incredible road, twisting round cliffs, encountering pigs, cows and goats.
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    Finally arrived at Calvi. We went for a walk round the citadel, made a nice walk, but everything was closed, even the pizza restaurant.
    I have never seen a town so completely dead, very little open, very few people, we were both looking forward to a drink, but the two or three places we saw open were pretty dire. Decided to cross the island tomorrow, and head south, to catch the ferry to Sardinia. Need to sort out covid stuff……….but here is the citadel.
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  • Wed 26th Jan
    Feared the weather was changing, lots of cloud this morning, but it cleared into another fine sunny day. Drove via Corte to Aleria, crossing the island from west to east, which involved driving up a series of valleys, and then down another on the other side of the mountain chain that runs down central Corsica. Always the distance was framed by snow topped mountains. The road was two lanes all the way, much quicker than those we encountered a couple of days ago, but a lot less fun. Still stunning scenery though.
    Corsica is devoid of “Air de Campingcar”, that we used so much on the mainland, instead has lots (and it really is lots) of campsites. That’s fine. Except they are all closed. Park4Night is so useful in these circumstances, giving places people have successfully stayed. Last night’s spot was a small parking area next to a monument commemorating an accident killing a load of children in the early 1900’s. Tonight’s search came up trumps, a place we would never have found, an isolated car park next to a large lagoon, and a wildlife conservation area. Noisy! But the noise is from multitudes of birds.
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    The building on the left, built into the lagoon, is a restaurant, regrettably closed.

  • Thu 27th Jan
    Day started very nicely in bright sunshine, Beckie and I went for a walk round the lagoon. Well, as far as the path went, which was far enough.
    Then I booked the ferry tickets, very strangely I could only pay in US dollars.
    Then, Italy apparently requires an EU contact form to be filled in, online only. What a nightmare! Took two hours, kept throwing me out at every error, and I’m sure, when it felt like it even though no error. For a contact address, I looked up a campsite in Sardinia that is open, and used that as a contact address. I cannot guarantee our travel plans won’t change when we get there….
    Next problem, require a covid free test 24 hours before departure, so we decided to drive to Porto Vecchio, and the tourist office, to try and enlist their help in making a booking.
    SatNav happily took us in the right direction, up a very steep hill and into a nightmare of narrow winding streets, took ages to extract ourselves. At one point, we were only allowed to turn right, but absolutely no way we could make a right turn, not nearly enough room. Sue had to get out, and stop the traffic whilst I drove the wrong way down a one way street, fortunately it was not very far.
    When we did manage to park up, it was 12.00am, and the tourist office was closed for lunch until 2.00 pm. So, we did the washing, had lunch, thence walked to the tourist office. It wasn’t very far, but it was very very uphill.
    However, the helpful girl, who fortunately spoke excellent English, understood our problem, and made an appointment for us at a chemist shop in Bonifaccio at 3.00pm tomorrow afternoon.
    Hope that is the last hurdle – always assuming, of course, that neither of us has caught the dreadful lurgy. Possible waste of all those dollars!
  • Fri 28th Jan

    As we do not know what to expect in Sardinia, we decided to stock up on food, then drove to Bonifacio, a small town with a very large marina. It seems the main attraction is boat trips round the coast and several small islands, all mothballed for the winter. (The boats, not the islands). After lunch, we went for a walk along the marina, past at least 20 restaurants, all closed. Except for one of the pizza restaurants.
    Looked for a bar to sit in the sunshine and have a glass of wine. The first bar closed at lunchtime (? Odd), and the only other one we found had pounding pop music. So, our last chance in France failed.
    Had our covid tests, both lurgy free.
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    The view of the citadel, looking over the marina. The only information l could find about it, was that it contained “luxury apartments”. Sue resolutely refused to toil up the hill…a slow day.

  • Sat 29th Jan

    Now in Sardinia. Ferry crossing was awful, but fortunately quite short. (50 minutes). Only allowed on rear deck, in the stench from the twin funnels, and very noisy.
    Have found that our guide book on Sardinia is only slightly better than completely useless (I didn’t have any choice when I bought it), but does have a map that shows, helpfully, we are at the top of the island.
    Off to find a TIC tomorrow, hopefully find out some information. Found that when stocking up yesterday, bought a bottle of milk that turned out to be yoghurt, and a bottle of sheep milk. Breakfast was a little unusual this morning.

  • Sun 30th Jan

    Our first stop today was the Tomba di giganti Li Lolghi, called gigantic because assumed incorrectly it was the burial place of a giant, because of it’s size.
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    Unusual site, have never seen anything remotely similar.
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    Modern mythology has it that leaning against the large stone is a therapeutic cure for all ailments. I found a website that proclaimed all sorts of scientific tosh to explain it’s properties, to do with ley lines, and radio waves of certain KHz.
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    Sue testing the theory. She reported nothing uplifting or zingy.
    This dates, apparently, from 1600 BC.
    Zoom forward 1200 years….
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    Necropoli Li Muri, circular burial chambers. All the information, including the notice board on the ticket office, said it was open. The padlock on the gate firmly suggested otherwise.
    However, the next site was open.

  • Nuraghe Albucciu
    This is quite astounding.
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    The central round tower is very reminiscent of a Scottish Broch, with an internal staircase inside the double skinned wall of the tower.
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    The internal stairway.

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    Inside the tower.
    So mysterious, what beliefs drove our ancestors to such lengths?

  • Roccia Il Fungo (Mushroom rock) in Arzachena
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  • Mon 31st Jan
    Didn’t do much. Drove a short way to Olbia, walked round the town a bit. Helpful lady in the TIC gave us a thickish brochure of interesting sites in Sardinia. Went to the local organic shop, predictably disappointing after France.
    Interesting church roof.
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    A further short drive to Porto S. Paolo, a small town on the coast waiting for spring to wake up, everything closed.

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