Lunch time on the island

Roberta with Demi

You may remember I was in Lerici last year with my friend Pat. We had an apartment near the castle and enjoyed a week of summer fun.
Our niece Roberta (Berti) and husband Fabio live here but were away when I was her last years. This time we are staying with them. We arrived at their house to find them fresh out of the shower after an afternoon on their boat. We settled in then went shopping where Steve got to play Grandpa, pushing the stroller and looking after Cleo. We gathered a few things then went home to prepare dinner.
The two little girls (Cleo 2 and a half and Demi 3 months) are just yummy. Cleo took straight to me and I was having a lot of fun talking, reading, playing, dancing and cuddling her.
We slept in the “cave” downstairs and enjoyed a great night.
The next morning after breakfast Steve and Fabio left on the scooter and we all followed

We joined the throngs of people on boats and set off for Palmaria a small island in the Gulf de Poeti. We stopped at our own beach and went onto the blackish sand and spent some time swimming and collecting shells before heading off for lunch in a lovely casual restaurant on the island.
There was the usual mix of young old, big and small but all were brown. We had a great lunch then boarded the boat, whizzed past Portovenere towards the Cinque Terre, and stopped at the red caves for a swim
We retuned home around 6 exhausted. What a day!

Corte was the capital and is placed in the centre surrounded by mountains, running rivers and lots of greenery. It’s very popular with walkers. All along the roads there are cars parked where the owners have scrambled down the river for a swim. If you get a look over, the river has bodies splashing and lying around on rocks.

W decided  to take the little tourist train! I know it’s very naff but we had limited time to see the sights and it came along so we jumped on. It appeared we had joined a group of bus travelling tourists and before we knew it we had driven out of the town towards a car park where a big bus was waiting! Trust us, on our first train,  to choose one that was a “special”. We had to wait for a real train to come along to get us back into the town.

Just then we heard rumbles and before long it started to rain. The first rain we’ve had over 3 weeks and 4 islands. I think in Corte it captures any rain going around.

We continued on to Bastia, where the Tour started and spent the afternoon wandering around the streets, before choosing a cafe for our aperitif and then dinner.
Back to our cave sized room and an early night for the early departure of our boat to Italy .
Off to see Bertie, Fabio, Cleo and 3 month old Demi.

Steve with my new bag

Walking the stairs at Corte

Our last morning swim in Ill Rousse was lovely. Refreshing and alone. It was so peaceful, something the surf doesn’t give us in Australia. It crashes and threatens , mostly with sharks! It’s a very different way of swimming and playing in the water.

Breakfast at the hotel was ordinary and I always question why the French hotels charge for breakfast.
On the way out of town we stopped so I could buy a basket. We needed something we could carry our few more fragile purchases and I thought it should be something I would use. So I’m now the owner of a brightly coloured striped bag- a type of market bag. Steve looks great carrying it!