(9/19/2010 - 9/26/2010 from THIS TRIP)
On this page are pictures and descriptions from 9/19/2010 - 9/21/2010. These are mostly pictures of Corsica on a motorcycle. Click on any picture or panorama for an ENORMOUS version. Click here to go to the homepage and get a description of what this is all about.
Below is a large open square in Nice France. This is the morning off 9/19/2010 (Sunday) and we have a few hours to putter around Nice before we head off on the ferry ride to Corsica.
Below on the far left is Katherine Chung, Brian Beach in blue shirt in back, Michelle McCready in red hair and red wrap, and on the far right is Phil Catledge. We are all having cappuccino in Nice, France.
We want to buy some snacks and check out the local farmers market, here is the a picture of that scene.
You can buy lots of things I don't recognize in the farmers market. :-)
The weather is better this day (9/19/2010) so I took another panorama of the Nice, France Beach with a blue sky.
One of the beach clubs in Nice, France is pictured below, the "Opera Plage".
We suit up in motorcycle safety gear to ride the 1 mile to the Corsica ferry.
And then we wait for another hour out in the heat for the ferry. :-)
Picture below by Katherine, staging for ferry. I'm in blue near the right side of the picture organizing the motorcycle.
Brian (me) putting on sunblock by our motorcycle, picture by Katherine:
There ferry is here!
The Corsica Ferry arrives, that is Brian Beach's F800GS and Brian himself on the far right.
The ferry has several large lifeboats, and a bunch of canisters that look like "depth charges" on the side. The canisters each open into 20 person inflatable life rafts.
The motorcycles are let onto the ferry first, and they are parked next to the ferry wall on their side stand, then tied with a big rope to prevent them from falling over in rough water. Below is a picture of a line of motorcycles (some are from our tour group, but not all).
Katherine Chung in front of our motorcycle. If you look right in front of Katherine's left leg is a hanging rope that is tying the motorcycle to the wall.
Here one of the ferry crew members ties up one motorcycle.
Gretchen Moss, Brian Beach, and Katherine Chung settle in for the 3 hour ferry ride to Corsica.
A picture of the dock area in Nice France from the back of the ferry.
A close up picture of one of the types of life raft on the Corsica ferry. You can see Nice, France in the background.
The ferry even has a hot tub and swimming pool on it, here is a picture of that area of the ferry. Some luxurious houses can be seen in the background in Nice, France.
This coastal view neighborhood in Nice, France looks really beautiful, seen from the Corsican ferry.
Here we are leaving France behind us, heading towards Corsica! Technically Corsica is part of France, but my French friend said Corsica doesn't think it is part of France. :-)
Here is the Corsica ferry out in open water.
On the far left that is Scott Keeler, Paul Cooke, Steve Lange in blue shirt on right.
Dogs are allowed on the Corsica ferry, and this sign was on the wall giving instructions in several languages on the rules for dogs.
Even on a ferry in France you get excellent food! Below is my dessert which is "Pyramid of Chocolate".
Katherine Chung arrives into Corsica on the ferry.
A view of the port town of "Bastia" in Corsica from the Corsica ferry.
We walk downstairs into the first levels of the ferry and untie our motorcycles and prepare do disembark the ferry at Bastia, Corsica, France.
A quick map of the very most northern tip of Corsica. We are arriving at the big red letter "A" on the map below at Bastia. We then drive 30 minutes in the dark to big red letter "B" on the map below near St Florent.
The next morning is 9/20/Monday and the picture below is what I see from my hotel room balcony. This is the Hotel De La Roya in Saint Florent Corsica. Click here for a Google map showing the location of Hotel De La Roya in Sant Florent Corsica France. It is beautiful here, a WONDERFUL hotel right on the beach, a very pleasant private beach with the town just a short stroll away.
The view from inside my hotel room out the balcony window.
Katherine Chung dressed up ready for her first real ride through Europe on a motorcycle. On the map above, we're going to ride "A" back to "B" then up the east coast to "C" then up to "D" for lunch, then west overland to "E" then back down to "B". This will take about 5 or 6 hours by motorcycle and is a very pleasant day.
Here is Brian (me) in my motorcycle suit, picture by Katherine:
Katherine taking my picture in Corsica on the mountain pass between "B" and "A" on the map above (between St Florent and Bastia).
Corsica landscape, you can almost ALWAYS see ocean from most places in Corsica.
Below is the scenery from the back of the motorcycle, picture by Katherine.
This next picture is a WWII memorial that (friend's translation) "it basically says that thanks to the warriors who liberated our stuff and children and comforted us with their smiles and stood against bad people I guess shoulder against shoulder it explicitly calls out the people who died during the liberation of Corsica during WWII".
A view towards Bastia from the highest point in the mountain pass here in Corsica.
A nice view down onto Bastia in Corsica.
Lots of really big blue ocean in Corsica.
We stopped for coffee at Erbalunga (not far outside of Brando) in Corsica here. This is near the "C" on this map. You can also find Erbalunga marked on this Google map. Below is a picture of the scenic little plaza 40 yards from the harbor in Erbalunga.
Walking 40 yards, you can see this cute liitle harbor in Erbalunga Corsica.
We found several "Pirate Restaurants" in Corsica, one of them was in Erbalunga (near Brando).
There are private apartments or rentals right on the rocky coast here. It is a sleepy, tiny town, but VERY pretty.
Below is a picture from the back of the motorcycle, picture by Katherine.
An action picture of Brian Beach motorcycling, picture taken by Katherine from the back of our motorcycle while in Corsica.
Another action shot of Brian Beach on his motorcycle. Picture by Kathernie.
I have no idea what kind of classic convertible car this is, do you? If you know email me! Update 4/18/2011 - Reader Bruce C says it is a 1953 Jaguar XKE 150 "drophead coupe". Thanks Bruce!
We stopped for lunch in Macinaggio Corsica. This is near the "D" on this map. Corsica lunches feature a lot of sea food, and are kind of a cross between France and Italy cuisine. In other words, fabulous. :-) Below is a picture of our lunch in Macinagio.
Same lunch, different perspective showing the boats in the harbor.
A little after lunch, a view of the ocean East of the northern tip of Corsica from the hills of Corsica.
We passed from East to West sides of Corsica at the northern tip over the Col de St Nicolas, sign pictured here.
A random road in Corsica, you can see some wind turbines in the background.
Below Brian Beach is in the lead, action picture by Katherine.
The picture below by Katherine shows a switchback in Corsica as we navigate through it. Notice how steep it is, and that is Brian Beach up ahead of us.
The next mountain pass in Corsica is Col de la Serra, pictured below. Signs in Corsica are in both the Corsican Language and the French Language.
We crossed over to the west side of Corsica now, and this is a view down the VERY pretty ocean coastline of Corsica.
A picture of the Corsican coastline facing north.
Again, very pretty, very little traffic, very remote locations with thousands of years of history in Corsica.
A picture by Katherine as we motorcycle through a small town in Corsica.
Another picture by Katherine, live action shot:
Below is an action picture by Katherine, and it shows how narrow the roads are in Corsica and how we pass cars on these narrow roads. That is Brian Beach on the motorcycle in the picture below.
Below following Brian Beach.
Action picture by Katherine following Brian Beach on a motorcycle through Corsica.
Another action shot by Katherine.
Little roads in Corsica. We are between Minderbio and Barrettali in Corsica.
Back at the Hotel de la Roya in Corsica, here we are 20 yards from the hotel on the beach in the WONDERFUL water. You can see Steve Lange (no shirt) hanging out on the beach talking to Brian Beach in the blue shirt.
A picture of the ocean out front of the hotel.
That's me (Brian Wilson) swimming in the ocean in Corsica. Picture by Brian Beach.
The water is not very deep, so I walked out with my camera to take this panorama from the ocean including the town of St Florent and the beach in front of our Hotel de la Roya.
Katherine Chung in a red dress looking for me when I took this picture. I'm in the water swimming.
A picture of the hotel patio and grounds here in Corsica.
The pool at Hotel de la Roya bans dogs, shoes, subway sandwiches, cornerwise people, and also bans TOOTHPASTE??! See the picture below.
As the sun sets at Hotel de la Roya in Corsica, that's Katherine Chung taking a picture.
Our group dinner in the hotel.
Rob Beach (tour owner and tour guide of Beach's Motorcycle Adventures) exactly where he wants to be. That's Jane Manchester in black on the left and Gretchen Moss in white on the right.
That ends the day 9/20/2010.
The next morning is 9/21/2010 and I get up and perform my normal ritual of taping up my toes for the day's motorcycling. Days and days of shifting and braking with my toes will cause blisters if I don't do this. With this tape, my toes come home happy, pink, and with their original skin on them. :-)
Below Martha reads her iPad on the back of Jack Leahy's motorcycle in the parking lot waiting to depart. Picture by Katherine.
Jane Manchester prepares the day of riding through Corsica. Picture by Katherine.
Lisa Koenig has her helmet camera on today, seen in the picture below by Katherine.
This day we went on a ride inland with Rob and Gretchen. Below is Rob, Gretchen, and Brian Beach at the side of the road on motorcycles in Corsica.
Below Brian (me) gets off my motorcycle, picture by Katherine.
That's Gretchen and Rob following Katherine and I in Corsica, picture by Katherine.
At the end of a cappuccino stop, Rob lights up a cigarette that he smokes as he motorcycles down the road. That's a high risk lifestyle right there. :-)
Below is a five minute video featuring our friends motorcycling in Corsica. Click Here for a very high quality QuickTime Version (Windows users probably cannot play QuickTime!) This is collections of video shot by Katherine Chung while sitting on the back of my motorcycle edited together, but a lot of it is from this particular day we rode with Rob Beach (pictured above), Gretchen Moss, Brian Beach (no relation to Rob Beach) and myself (Brian Wilson) and Katherine Chung.
I stop short to take a picture, and I can see my buddies far away on a pretty road in Corsica driving along. That is Brian Beach in the picture below.
This is as zoomed in as I can get, you can see Rob and Gretchen in front, and Brian Beach following (in blue):
This shows the thin motorcycle roads between the cliffs, picture by Katherine from the back of the motorycle.
That's Katherine Chung on the right, you can see her white ipod ear bud cables coming out of her helmet.
Picture of Brian Beach following us, picture by Katherine.
Some random motorcyclists in Corsica (not associated with our tour).
There are a lot of pigs in Corsica, and here is a statue of one of them. Picture by Katherine:
Lots of pigs in Corsica, picture by Katherine.
Livestock is everywhere in Europe and in Corsica, here is a cow by the side of the road. Picture by Katherine.
We stopped by the side of the road to meet some pigs. That's Rob and Gretchen up ahead. Picture by Katherine.
On this road, there are a LOT of pigs that we pass by the side of the road. That's Rob Beach on the far left in mustache, and Gretchen taking a picture of the pig.
Gretchen getting closer to the pigs.
Picture by Katherine.
Gretchen reaches out to pig, picture by Katherine.
Close up of one of the pigs by Katherine.
Brian Beach on a motorcycle coming up on a bicyclist. The bicyclists can move quite fast on the downhills, they can be hard to pass. Picture by Katherine.
Action shot of Brian Beach cornering on his motorcycle, picture by Katherine.
Cows in the foreground, Brian Beach in blue on a motorcycle past the cows. Picture by Katherine.
More pigs by the side of the road. Picture by Katherine.
Cow standoff with Brian Beach on a motorcycle. Picture by Katherine.
We stop for lunch, and there is this ski lift, which means there is skiing in Corsica! :-) Wikipedia lists three ski areas in Corsica: Ghisoni with 3 lifts, Vergio with 6 lifts, and Val d'Ese with 3 lifts. I think this is a Vergio ski area lift (see the next picture below).
Since we pass Col de Vergio soon after our lunch spot, I'm assuming that ski lift above is from Vergio ski area in Corsica. Col de Vergio is the highest mountain pass in Corsica.
This is the statue at the top of Col de Vergio, which can roughly be describes as Jesus standing on an igloo. This statue might be called something like "Le Christ De Verjhu" or "The Christ of Verjhu". Nobody on the internet seems to have a translation of "Verjhu". I wonder if "Verjhu" means "igloo"? In the Wikipedia article on the town of Porto, it mentions a similar word of "Vechju" in the Corsican language.
A high mountain road in Corsica:
This is an excellent picture showing a bus trying to get by some cars on this tiny single lane road in Corsica. Picture by Katherine.
Scenic roads in Corsica. Picture by Katherine.
Following Brian Beach on a motorcycle in Corsica. Picture by Katherine.
Picture by Katherine.
We drop down into the ocean front town of Porto in Corsica, pictured below. Notice the fort castle in the upper right corner of the picture.
Some sea kayaks in the ocean out front of the town of Porto Corsica.
A picture of Porto and the castle from above along the road to the hotel.
We arrive into the Hotel Capo Rosso just outside Piana Corsica. The hotel is HIGH up on a cliff with GORGEOUS views and a wonderful deck and restaurant. The rooms themselves are Ok, not really 4 star but acceptable. They do have air conditioning which I was hugely thankful for.
Below is a panorama picture from the small balcony in my room. You can see the swimming pool below.
A slightly different perspective showing off the swimming pool.
At the swimming pool level (but around the corner) is a very nice deck and bar area with really stunning views. Notice that the two tour members below are playing with their iPads instead of enjoying the view or conversation. :-) Don't worry, they are probably looking up pictures of Corsica on their iPads so they can properly enjoy the scenery through their tiny little small screens. This is the way of our world now, the downfall of civilization where we wander around plugged into the internet looking at our tiny little screens.
Ahh, finally they put away the electronics and are relaxing with real people. :-) Below is a picture with Brian Beach on far far left, I think Robert (Doc?) then Scott Keeler facing the camera in suit jacket, Katherine Chung in black long hair facing left, Nola Perkin in black jacket facing right, John Perkin in blue shirt facing away from camera, and on far far right is Steve Lange.
We had some appetizers that scared me. :-) I recognize sea tentacles on one, but the one pointed to is an unknown sea creature on a cracker.
Dinner with the motorcycle tour group in the hotel restaurant.
This ends the day of 9/21/2010, click the link below to see the rest starting the morning of 9/22/2010.
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