Ending Up Anywhere

We'd spent five nights on the beach and two by mountain rivers and wanted to see a bit of Corsica on foot and so we left Camping U Ponte Grossu at 8am on the second morning, continuing inland westwards to Zonza. Our first priority was finding a cash point as the 31€ per night rate of the previous campsite had wiped out our currency. We stopped in Zonza itself at something describing itself as Banque Postale. No ATM was apparent outside so I entered and asked one of two staff if I could withdraw money. They replied with the name of the next town south. It was only an eight-minute drive to the next town and it did indeed have an ATM. We headed back towards Zonza and then five minutes eastwards towards a municipal campsite. It was ten minutes to ten in the morning and a sign informed us reception was open from 8am to 10am daily. We booked in. It would be 16€ per night including electricity, half the price of our previous campsite. We were free to find ourselves a pitch.

We've got wild swimming guides to three countries. They list outstanding places to swim that aren't widely known. They're always so out of the way we've never managed to get to one until today, and it was the whole reason for booking the campsite we're now on, Camping U Ponte Grossu, in the Corsican mountains. After a 20-minute walk along the road we came to the bridge mentioned in the book and then followed the river bed upstream as instructed. This was no gentle stroll though, it was actual canyoning for which we weren't at all prepared. We had appropriate footware but with sections so deep we had to swim it was foolish to have rucksacks containing electronic devices. We continued on and it probably took us three times the length of time we'd have done it if we'd have had waterproof holdalls like everyone else. Finally we rounded a corner just feet away from the GPS coordinates given for an infinity pool. This would be the most difficult chall

Corsica's main ferry port is on its north eastern tip and our first choice of campsite is incredibly convenient as a first base, being just 35km on the main road south. Camping Amurucciu was a fabulous find for us last year and we couldn't wait to be back. It's quite a sprawling campsite with two large areas under the shade of trees and an area about the size of the shady part right on the beach. Location is everything about this site and what's more surprising is that it doesn't share the stretch of sandy beach with any other properties. You won't be towel to towel with anyone else on the beach - there's masses of shoreline for everyone and you don't even have to walk far to be completely on your own, should you wish. The facilities are somewhat dated and basic with mostly drop toilets and a single 'proper' loo with a seat. Hot showers require coins while cold ones do not. Outdoor showers are dotted around so you can wash sea salt off w

As night drew in on our Italian motorhome aire it didn't get particularly dark. The light from several lampposts was blinding through the pop-top roof windows which we wanted open to allow the breeze to blow across us. Fortunately I had found my eye mask earlier in the day and, with the Italian campers who'd been pretty loud all afternoon having also retired to bed, I slept soundly until our 4.30am alarm. The road down from our mountain base for the night was winding but newly paved and smooth. It was beginning to get light when we approached Savona ferry terminal. We put our bikes inside the van for our ferry crossing with Corsica Ferries after the shock of getting a 70€ fine for having them on the bike rack last year. We still didn't win though. A man, looking really pleased with himself and his measuring stick, called me out of the van, showed me the height recorded on our ticket and demonstrated that we were ten centimetres taller. I say 'demonstrated' bu

As always seems to happen when we leave a campsite, particularly one that hasn't lived up to expectations, we immediately drive past wild campers. Yesterday was no exception to this rule and literally within a couple of minutes we were passing campervans parked on Lake Annecy's shoreline, so close they could open their leisure doors and dangle their feet in the water. We striked it up as yet another lesson learned. We had a four-hour drive ahead of us and, before our sat nav cajoled us back on to never-ending motorways we stopped for food and fuel at a Leader Price supermarket. A baguette and cheese was on my shopping list while Tony filled the tank with gasole . I located the cheese pretty quickly and was on my second trip around the shop looking for the bread when Tony found me. 'There's no bread,' I announced. 'Probably because there's a bakery next door.' I packed Tony off with a five euro note to buy a baguette while I queued to pay for m

The journey through the full length of France seems quite insignificant when done as we have. A five hour drive from Calais to Dijon yesterday, a four hour journey to Lake Annecy this morning and then three hours down to Savona in Italy tomorrow ready for our ferry to Corsica on Monday morning. We stayed on an aire last night and will tomorrow but tonight we're on a campsite where we'll get at least one shower in three days! We're on Camping Lanfonnet which charges a premium for being on the lake while offering no views of it. I booked it via Pitch Up where it's rated 8.6 out of 10. Reviewers on Google seem to like it less and it has 2.5 stars out of five. Criticism seems to be of an unfriendly welcome, which I experienced, and noise from the restaurant across the road which is open until 1am. I booked based on the Pitch Up rating, not having looked it up on Google. I think we may be far enough away from the restaurant that it might not bother us. Lake Annecy i

Six week's holiday starts now! We've just crossed the channel and we're making our way leisurely down to Corsica. It's now been two years since I was made redundant from my job of 22 years and a little over a year since I started my own business dog walking. At the start of our summer holiday last year I only had two clients. This year I have eight regulars taking 21 hours of walks between them each week. Last month was my busiest ever and yesterday my busiest day - I walked six dogs a total of 15 miles in seven hours. My legs need a rest! I'm enjoying being the passenger in Cleopatra while Tony drives us to tonight's stopover near Dijon. Tomorrow we've booked a campsite on Lake Annecy for the night and then we're heading into Italy for a night before catching and early ferry on Monday from Savona to Corsica. You may remember that we visited Corsica last summer. It's a huge island and we loved so much about it and so, when we decided we need