Tag: France

After the breakfast, we checked out of the hotel and drove to the nearby Plage de Miomo. The weather had turned for the worse. It was raining, and a strong wind was blowing from the sea.

Eventually, the rain stopped for a short while, just long enough for us to enjoy one last swim before heading to the ferry terminal in Bastia.

The crossing from Bastia to Savona started off smoothly. Miška had reserved a perfect spot for our deck chairs, and everything seemed ideal at first. As we moved further away from Cap Corse, however, the wind became much stronger and the sea grew increasingly rough, with some fairly large waves forming around the ferry.

We spent part of the journey in the corridor opposite the exit to one of the side decks, occasionally stepping outside for some fresh air.

The ferry arrived late in Savona, but as soon as we disembarked, I set off immediately, driving through the winding mountain roads towards Ovada and our hotel, Belforte. Despite the delay, we still arrived before midnight.

Unfortunately, I was catching a cold again and wasn’t in the best mood. The next morning, after breakfast, Miška took over the driving. In fact, she drove almost the entire journey home, all the way to the Austrian border. We only switched for a short stretch after Klagenfurt.

We finally arrived back in Graz on Saturday, 22nd of August at around 20:00, bringing our Corsican adventure to an end.

Looking back, Corsica gave us beautiful beaches, stunning landscapes, charming towns, unforgettable views, and even an unexpected encounter with Arsène Wenger. It was a trip full of memories that will stay with us for a very long time.

We got up early on Wednesday morning, fully prepared for the autograph mission, and headed down for breakfast. Unfortunately, Arsène was nowhere to be seen. When we asked at the reception desk, they told us that he had already left the hotel the day before.

After breakfast, we set off once again to explore Cap Corse. This time, we headed further north, with Plage de Pietracorbara as our first destination. The beach was nice, but it didn’t really impress us, so we decided to continue further north to Plage de Tamarone, the last beach on the northeastern coast that can be reached by car.

The road there was dusty and, in some places, quite rough, but despite that, the parking lot was already quite full. From there, we took a short walk to Plage des Îles, enjoying the wild and untouched landscape along the way.

Thursday, 20th of August was another relaxing day spent at our hotel and in the surrounding area. In the evening, we decided to finally visit Bastia itself and explore a little of its historic old town.

We had dinner at Chez Vincent, a restaurant located directly opposite the Musée de Bastia, and afterwards we wandered around the harbor. The port is truly beautiful, especially in the evening when the waterfront comes alive with people, cafés, and lights reflecting on the water.

The moment we walked into the breakfast restaurant, I noticed someone had taken “our” table on the balcony where we had been sitting the day before.

I went to get some food and, out of the corner of my eye, noticed someone looking in my direction. I was wearing an Arsenal shirt because Arsenal had beaten Manchester City the previous day to win the Community Shield. And that T-shirt turned out to be the reason…

On my way back to the table, I looked more carefully to see who had been looking at me. When our eyes met, I nearly collapsed. “WHAAAUUU! Really?!”

Standing right in front of me was none other than Arsène Wenger himself. He smiled and, with his French accent, said: “Nice T-shirt.”

For a moment, I honestly wasn’t sure whether I was dreaming or if it was actually happening.

We talked for a few minutes. I definitely did not hold back on the compliments, and I immediately asked if I could get an autograph. Luckily, Miška reminded me to go and get my phone, and then Arsène kindly agreed to take a photo with me. He was having breakfast with his daughter and seemed genuinely pleased by my excitement, which made the experience even more special.

Shortly after lunch, we headed for a trip to the nearby town of Saint-Florent, which we later discovered is also one of Arsène’s favorite places on the island. Saint-Florent lies on the western side of the base of Cap Corse. We spent the rest of the day at the beautiful natural beach of Plage de la Roya.

In the evening, we had dinner at L’Olivier, a restaurant right by the harbor. It was a perfect end to an unforgettable day.

On Tuesday 18th of August, I finally managed to get some proper sleep. After breakfast, Miška went to the hotel gym for a workout while I enjoyed a little extra rest.

Later, we headed towards the northeastern coast. In Erbalunga, Miška sent a postcard home. After that, our plans suddenly changed to: Operation – Get the Signature.

Miška found a huge stationery store on the southern side of Bastia where we had two photographs printed and bought a set of quality markers. With our mission preparations complete, we continued south to Plage de Taglio-Isolaccio, part of the long sandy beach that stretches along Corsica’s eastern coastline.

For the evening, Miška came up with another great idea: a visit to the small hilltop village of Penta-di-Casinca in the Corsican countryside. We were lucky to get the last available table for two at A Teppa, just as a live concert was about to begin.

After dinner, we wandered through the narrow streets of the village. In some places, the atmosphere felt almost mysterious, especially as darkness settled over the old stone houses. It was a peaceful and memorable way to end another wonderful day in Corsica.

On Saturday morning, we checked out of the hotel, and a long journey across the island was ahead of us. We decided to head north along the eastern coast and make a stop in Ajaccio.

Ajaccio is the official capital of Corsica and is best known as the birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte. While exploring the city, we saw his large statue, visited the house where he was born, and also took a look at the citadel. We walked to the Musée Fesch as well. Miška bought a beautiful hat, and just before the afternoon siesta we had lunch at Le Cheval Blanc.

Later, we continued through the heart of Corsica towards Bastia. Driving past the Parc Naturel Régional de Corse and around Monte Rotondo, we passed through Corte, a mountain town that is home to the island’s only university, the Université de Corse Pasquale Paoli.

In the evening, we arrived at our hotel, L’Alivi, on the outskirts of Bastia. We were given a room on the top floor, right in the middle of the building, with a beautiful view of the Tyrrhenian Sea.

We spent our first full day, Sunday 16h of August at the new hotel taking it easy. We relaxed by the pool and enjoyed swimming in the sea nearby.

In the evening, we visited the picturesque village of Erbalunga, a small fishing settlement with a charming harbor and plenty of restaurants. The harbor is famously guarded by dogs, while the rest of the village seems to belong to its many cats.

After a pleasant walk through the narrow streets and along the waterfront, we returned to the hotel and enjoyed another peaceful Corsican evening.

We spent Wednesday, the 12th of August again close to our hotel, enjoying our beautiful private beach. We inflated our SUP board and paddled around the bay, exploring the area near the anchored sailboats. The rest of the day we simply relaxed on the beach until sunset.

On Thursday we decided to go on another trip. This time we chose what is said to be the most beautiful beach on the southern coast — Plage de Palombaggia. Parking there was easy. Several restaurants along the beach have their own parking lots, and for 20 euros you get a voucher worth 15 euros to use in the restaurant. The beach is long and very pretty. On its western side it connects directly to another stunning, more natural beach — Plage de Tamaricciu, with huge granite boulders scattered around.

After a lovely day on the beach, we drove to the nearby town of Porto‑Vecchio. The town was unbelievably crowded, almost like a street fair. Luckily, we found a small bistro in a side street where we had dinner. After that, our “walk” was basically just a return to the parking lot, and then a long night drive back to Propriano.

Friday, 14th of August, we spent once again near our hotel, relaxing on our beautiful private beach. In the evening, for our farewell, we went to see the center of Propriano. Instead of a full dinner, we had a light snack — and later some crêpes 🙂

We spent almost the whole day on our beautiful hotel beach. Only in the evening we decided to go on a short trip to Sartène, known as the most “Corsican” town on the island. We walked around the old streets and had dinner. The restaurant we chose was right next to a road with diverted traffic, so cars kept passing extremely close to us. It was honestly a bit terrifying. We already knew Sartène had a rough atmosphere, and this confirmed it.

After dinner, we treated ourselves to huge ice cream cups on the main square. Then we explored a few old alleys and headed back to the hotel.

On Tuesday we planned a full‑day trip. We wanted to see at least part of the southern coast, look for nice beaches, and finally decided to go to Plage du Petit Sperone.

On the way, we first stopped above another famous beach — Plage de Roccapina — where a group of rocks above the shore looks like a giant stone lion lying down. Later we walked around Bonifacio and found a great spot for photos.

The parking area near Plage du Petit Sperone was basically full, but we managed to find a place. The beach itself is truly beautiful, but also very crowded. The biggest problem came when we tried to return to the parking lot — the tide had flooded the small path along the beach that we used earlier. In general, I didn’t like that a large golf club sits right above the beach, making access for the public unnecessarily difficult.

We spent the evening in Bonifacio. We had to park farther away and walk into town. We had dinner down by the port and then climbed up the sandstone cliff to the old town. It’s not as big as it might seem. The back side with the fortress wasn’t lit at all, and the air in the narrow streets felt completely still. It’s hard to compare Bonifacio with a place like Korčula — the atmosphere is very different.

We had a calm morning on Saturday, the 8th of August 2026. We enjoyed breakfast, packed our things into the car, took care of a few small tasks, and around noon we started our trip to Italy, heading towards Livorno. The drive was mostly fine, with a few small delays and regular breaks. We arrived at Hotel Maxis in Livorno around 22:00. The hotel itself was OK, but the surrounding area and the access road into Livorno were not great.

On Sunday morning, 9th of August, we went to the port. The biggest challenge was simply to finding it. There were no signs at all, so you basically just follow the other cars… The ferry was larger than the one we took to Norway, but older, and overall the experience with Corsica Ferries cannot be compared to Fjord Line.

The crossing from Livorno to Bastia took about five hours (9:45 to 13:45). After arriving in Bastia, we had a long drive ahead of us to the southwest, to Propriano. We paid attention to the landscape along the way. What surprised us, were the piles of trash along the road – something we had previously seen only around Naples.

We also noticed the bilingual town signs (French and Corsican), very interesting.

Our hotel Roc e Mare in Propriano / Prupriu, we reached at around 18:30. We got the room 304 and were immediately impressed! The risk we took despite mixed reviews definitely paid off. The room was spacious, nicely furnished, and had a stunning view over the wide bay. But the biggest treasure of this hotel was hidden just a few dozen meters below: a beautiful private sandy beach tucked between rocky cliffs. Right above the beach was a great restaurant, open in the evenings. We tried it already on Sunday and enjoyed excellent fresh fish.