Bunnygoespop in Corsica, the Caribbean of Europe

The sea was unbelievably blue. The landscape was swathed in green, crisscrossed with narrow windy roads. The sand was fine and white. We pinched ourselves in disbelief, where were we? Were we in the Seychelles? The Caribbean or Costa Rica..? No.. the water was too cold, the wind was too strong, and the bikinis were optional. We must be in France!

We were in Corsica, a French island in the Mediterranean Sea. Just an hour away by flight from Switzerland, it was supposed to be our “backyard holiday”. This whole post was going to be about how we should sometimes explore our own backyards. But then something happened…. Read on..

Tip: If you live in Europe and know how to drive, we would highly highly recommend to visit this island. It is really beautiful. Much much nicer than Greece. It has great kids friendly beaches too.

Where to stay- A little walk to the beach

Corsica is flush with Airbnbs and rentals. We chose ours very carefully and paid an arm and leg for it because it was listed right next to the sea. The first morning we woke up, there was a nice pool, but no sea in sight. The sea was >45 min away, the beach another 30 min away.

But we were determined to check it out. After a looong walk from the parking, we had to Spiderman our way on some sharp rocks carrying a baby and a toddler who point blank refused to walk. We had to cross beds of rotting sea weed, make our way through thorny forests, skip on some steep and uneven steps to be finally greeted by this paradise of a beach.

The kids loved it but oh, not I. I hadn’t forgotten the journey to get here (and that we had to go back eventually).

The Swiss bunnies didn’t mind the walk one bit. So, we did this trek a few more times during our trip and beyond- to another hidden beach. I lost weight on this trip.

What to take with you – The weather

Well good shoes of course – one has to trek a lot for nice beaches. And jackets, yes in plural.

I got fooled by the weather forecast and only took my summer clothes. It rained cats and dogs. The wind was biting and the mornings were chilly (our kind children woke us up at 6 am everyday). My mother in law, who is wiser and European, kindly lent me one of the four different jackets she had brought with her. Lesson learnt: winter is not a season, it’s a default in Europe.

Small island, big specialities, things to do

Shopping

We checked out the weekly market in Bonifacio, expecting it to be big and bustling and full of French goodies. It was small. Very small.

Highly recommend the chestnut spreads and cookies – a HUGE specialty of Corsica.

Boat tour to see “A grain of sand”

The harbour of Bonifacio (the commune where we were staying) is very impressive. It is a long channel protected by cliffs on both sides providing ships safe passage from the sea to the port. One evening, we did a boat tour through this channel to see Bonifacio from the sea and we cannot recommend it more.

Beach beach everyday

One of the first things we noticed in Corsica, was how different it was from the Goan beaches we had been to earlier this year. Here, the only one piece swimming suits on the beaches were the one piece bikinis (if you get what I mean). The two piece bikinis competed to be tinier than the other.

We were at the beach everyday.

Once we tried to go to the beach of Balistra. To get here, one has to go on a dirtpath for 2 km. The landscape is beautiful. It felt just like a safari in Costa Rica.

Despite setting up camp far from the beach, well into the shrubbery to protect ourselves from the wind, it was still VERY windy. The children came out of the sea with their teeth chattering and lips blue but it was so darn beautiful.

Our favourite beach- Santa Giulia

Eating

We ate at some silly tourist trap places at prices way beyond Switzerland prices. But we also had some really good food too.

Hiking – The windy blue

Corsica has amazing walking trails. We went to see the cliffs from our side of the bay once and got cold to the bone.

On our (supposedly) last day, we decided to load up the car and go for a walk near the lighthouse.

I remember having a little thought back then– how do planes land in such strong winds? I had quickly disregarded it, thinking that the pilots know their shit. Not all do.

Our pilot couldn’t land (3 other flights in the same time frame did). We could never board. We were stuck in the middle of the night at a tiny airport in Corsica, with two screaming kids, without a car, without taxis, without a hotel, without clean clothes, and without baby formula.

Then came an angel.

A nice story

Little baby bunny likes to walk. She cannot walk on her own. So she makes us walk her. Besides making us walk her, she also loves dogs. Just the day before we were supposed to leave, a new neighbour came next to our rental with a big beautiful golden retriever. Baby giggled and started walking me to these new neighbours. Ugh, I thought, now I have to talk to them? The whole family joined. “Oh you are from Switzerland too? Gruezi gruezi, the whole conversation turned to Swiss german. I lost even more interest. Swiss bunny told me later their son was going to come the next day from Basel- with the same flight we were supposed to leave.

We saw these neighbours waiting for their son at the airport the next day. They felt as cheated as we did when the plane doesn’t land. But we quickly came up with a solution. These new neighbours drove us back to the same rip off rental I swore to write a bad review for. They gave us breakfast and milk and bananas for the kids. They drove us back to the airport to get a rental the next day. They did all this selflessly. My heart for humanity and Swiss people opened up a bit. We also thanked baby bunny for this introduction.

Homecoming

Back at the rental the real craziness started. There are no flights available to go back. We spend the next night at a super weird hotel near Ajaccio, a bigger airport. Finally we flew to Lyon in mainland France two days after our scheduled flight. My MIL’s brother came to pick us up with a mini bus all the way from Switzerland. We made it home. Tired. Shocked. Sleepless. Despite the grey and the cold we were greeted with, we were ecstatic. Home is home. The backyard? Overrated.