The whining about the ride up the hill into Santo Pietro di Tenda can now be inverted to the joyous whooping of a downhill farewell…back through Santu Fiorentu and along more amazing coastline before a comparatively gradual climb into the village of Nonza. This might take the title of loveliest village of all, with its Genoese tower, cliff-hugging villas, medieval church and sweet village square. Sigh. We had a little time to kill before getting into our dwellings, so decided to park our bikes and go for a stroll down the cliffs to the beckoning water…which we enjoyed all to ourselves **ahh**.

A quick stop on the stony steps for a jambon, pickle and goat’s cheese snack before making our way along a fairly treacherous path that led us to an old monastery – The Monastery of St Francois. It had fallen into fairly serious disrepair, but one part appeared to be still functioning as either a monastery or residence of some description. It is very hard to find much information about the monastery, so I’m afraid you’ll have to rely on speculation, based on AW’s keen investigative senses (see image below).

Safe with the knowledge that the good Lord was nearby and keeping his/her watchful eye on him, AW decided to wade into the ocean and enjoy the Mediterranean one more time. Once he’d dried off, it was time to head back to the village and settle in to our lodgings. Our Airbnb host wasn’t able to meet us, but her Mum was there to take us into the house. She was very old and very sweet and told us all about the house and her family’s history in Nonza. I think it’s fair to say she was part of the establishment – she had a prime piece of real estate and seemed to be known by all she met along the street. We fairly swiftly made ourselves at home in the bar across the road the Cafe de la Tour which served as a meeting point for the local, young and old alike. AW found the 4 Euro Negronis to his liking, and managed to have quite a few of them over the course of the stay. AW also found the Pietras to his liking, and had quite a few of them, too. JM did her very best to help him feel less self-conscious about consuming so many delicious drinks by joining AW with an Aperol Spritz or two, and a cheeky Pietra or two just for good measure. AW was most grateful for her thoughtfulness.

Again, the lack of wifi meant some more inventive passing of time was in order, but Nonza had a little more going on than poor old Lozzi (like a function bar), so we coped just fine. On Friday the fearless adventurers hitch-hiked again, this time into Bastia, to pick up their little vehicle. AW was a little trepidatious about driving on the right among Corsican drivers along Corsican roads, but with a couple of exceptions, all went rather well, considering. A stop at Erbalunga for lunch, and a cruise to the very tip of Cap Corse (the little finger of land jutting off the north-east tip of Corsica) was fun and breezy. There was a stop for a swim at the northernmost point of the island, near the village Barcaggio. We were warned by a local about stinging jellyfish – he called them Medusa – so he kindly grabbed his snorkel and goggles to swim around us giving regular ‘thumbs-ups’ for our safety; yet another example of the extraordinary kindness and generosity of spirit and time we experienced during our stay here.

The road along the western coast of the cape was pretty hairy, so AW has very few memories, but we were starting to get turquoise water and beautiful village fatigue – a rare and unfortunate condition – so we made very few stops and were generally under-appreciative of the pearly string of villages scattered along this coastline…

Our final day was spent taking a hike into the woods to the north of Nonza to a creepy mausoleum, deconstructing the bikes and drinking Negronis. AW and JM even sensed a touch of melancholy as they sipped their drinks and watched their last sunset in Corsica…it had been an truly extraordinary experience. They were very proud of their trusty steeds, and looked forward to reconstructing them for the next venture awaiting – Paris.