More of Corsica and then Sardinia

Corsica

The forecast is still sketchy, but despite that we woke to sunshine again.

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After a brief stop for gas and then at a bakery of coffee and a croissant we were excited to see the wild west coast of Corsica. We planned a 255 km route to stick as much as possible along the shore to Propriano.

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The road at time was very narrow and hanging on the cliff. The views of the crystal blue sea were stunning.

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Sometimes there were some obstacles on the road!

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The small hotel on the private beach was right in the town. It was sunny for a short time and Daniel took a plunge in the frigid water.

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Corsica

Todays forecast is for rain at times, but we were again mostly lucky. The plan was to take some of the mountain roads in the south of the island and then head for the 5 pm ferry to Sardinia.

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We started out on a small paved road that then was not paved and fairly rain damaged. This was ok on the street tires, but it soon became a dirt bike no pannier road and we had to turn around. Sorry no photos too busy driving!

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Oh well we rerouted and found some great roads up over the mountains and thru sell villages hanging on the cliffs.

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Then we headed up onto the pass for some spectacular scenery and a cool 9 degrees.

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We did get caught in a short downpour on one of the passes, but the worst was when we were in the store getting groceries so we miss the bad part.

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Arriving at Bonifacio we saw the stunning fort on the hill, but decided to go to the ferry to see about tickets and come back to see the very cute town. The time was 255 and the 330 ferry was in the dock. The ticket guy said the 5 pm was likely full and we did not want to chance it. A bonus was this ferry line is 10 E cheaper per bike for the crossing than the Moby line listed online. We all had to do a U turn on board and the cars backed on. They crew were quick to direct you and lash the bikes with ropes 2 deep.

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We did get some incredible views as we were leaving the harbour.

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The crossing is about an hour and a half  and on this very nice day quite rough. I’d hate to go on a bad day.

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We arrived to Santa Teresa Gallura and the sun was shining.

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We rode out to the near by Cabo Testa .

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Today we have planned some coastal and mountain riding for about 240 km to Alghero.

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The forecast today is 80 % rain until noon an then 20%. The weather is moving away from us and so we had a late start at 11 almost managed to avoid the rain. That said we had cloud and some drizzle for less than an hour.

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Sardinia

The sun was out by the time we arrived to the famous La Pelosa beach near Stinting. The colour of the water here is unbelievable.

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Then it was a small detour to the ghost town of Argentiera.

“Located halfway between Stintino and Alghero is the abandoned coastal mining town of Argentiera, a ghost-like place standing on one of the wildest sections of Sardinia’s coast.

The silver mine at Argentiera dates back to the Roman era and was once the largest Sardinian producer of this precious metal.  It was as recently as 1963 that the seams were finally exhausted and production at the mine ceased. Apart from fencing off some of the more unstable buildings nothing has really been touched since the closure. Shafts and workings, administration buildings, miner’s quarters and chapel all stand in an empty, eerie silence like something from the old wild-west. “

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From here it was a short 30+ km to Alghero for a 2 day rest.

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This entry was posted in Corsica, France, Sardinia. Bookmark the permalink.

2 Responses to More of Corsica and then Sardinia

  1. jim barnett says:

    great shots as usual. wonderful trip. amazed that the britsand the germans fought over that chunk of rock in ww II.

    I am feeling decent long way to go yet.

    uncle jim

    • Daniel says:

      Thinking about you lots! Especially when i am working on the blog as I know you are a close follower. Im am glad you are feeling a bit better. Sara

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