Golfe de Porto, Corsica

Golfe de Porto, Corsica

Golfe de Girolata, Corsica

Scandola peninsular, Golfe de Girolata, Corsica

Italian riders on a Ducati, <em>Golfe de Girolata, Corsica

Italian riders on a Ducati, Golfe de Girolata, Corsica

Beautiful scenery of Corsica’s Costa Rosso. An early (and misty) start to enjoy the last of the morning cool. our Italian friends ride it in such style, those are open-toe sandals! Then inland to glimpse the Cirque de Bonifatu.

Bucca a Palmaredda (408 m.), Corsica

Bucca a Palmaredda (408 m.), Corsica

La Balagne, Corsica

View to La Balagne, Corsica

Galéria, Corsica

Galéria, Corsica

Golfe de Galéria, Corsica

Golfe de Galéria, Corsica

Galéria, Corsica

Galéria, Corsica

Halt on the D81, Corsica

Halt on the D81, Corsica

Ponte Vecchiu over the river Fango, Corsica

Ponte Vecchiu over the river Fango, Corsica

Cirque de Bonifatu, Corsica

Cirque de Bonifatu, Corsica

Calanche de Porto, Corsica

Calanche de Porto, Corsica

Corsica

Roadside sping on the D81, Corsica

Beach at Bussaghia, Corsica

Beach at Bussaghia, Corsica

Bocca Lenzano, Corsica

Bocca Lenzano, Corsica

Cod with black olive tapenade and flowers, Corsica

Cod with black olive tapenade and flowers

This is a beautiful scenic ride along the west coast of Corsica where the red granite meets the azur sea. Several of the Calanches - coves with red rock weathered to strange shapes and colonised by pine trees etc - are listed by UNESCO as World Heritage sites. A misty and early start, to ride in the last of the overnight cool, I crossed over the Bucca a Palmaredda (408 m.) in to the Balagne, it’s above the ancient settlement of Girolata (from which the ferry ship I used took its name), the Scandola peninsular opposite is a nature reserve, accessible only on foot or boat. A stop for coffee at a beach hut at Galéria, the area feeling ever more remote, even like a French tropical island. I continued towards Calvi and headed inland up the valley of the river Fango. Clouds threatening and time to turn around. I met the next day a couple who had been flooded out of their tent by the Fango flooding with storm water. Another fine meal at the hotel restaurant, this was Cod with black olive tapenade and flowers..