Bonjour!
Last night, after I had posted, I noticed that we were having an ant attack in our room! Now we have fought this battle in Tucson before – right about this time of year, actually, and our good friends Bob and Stew have actually taken care of the most recent assault for us – THANK YOU, GUYS!! But here in Corsica? Added to that, the ants who are trying to get into our house in Tucson are teeny tiny little things – millions of them, but still small. On the other hand, these Corsican ants must be weight lifters, they are so large. So, Robert went to the desk and brought the gal back to see them. She said she’d be right back, and returned about 5 minutes later with a man with a spray can which looked very much like what our current spray guy, Todd, uses each month when he pays us a visit! Only this time, the guy quite literally wanted to drown not only the ants, but everything else in the room! And boy, did that smell! My question to Robert was: Will we wake up tomorrow morning? He replied in the affirmative, but I have to tell you that last night we slept with the balcony window wide open – just to be able to breathe! Truly, it was disgusting! But we did wake up this morning, just about on time, and the cleaning service today took care of any and all of the residue.
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| Last night's sunset! |
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| The port of Propriano with car ferry in the background |
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| Lots of boats! |
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| Me trying to figure out how to use the machines! |
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| Just a little treat while watching soccer... |
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| Again, hiding in the corner of sports bar to watch game! |
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| R's fish which he loved! |
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| My tomato and burrata salad! |
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| Evening falling from our balcony! |
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| Looking at Sartene from our balcony! |
So … up this morning for breakfast at 7:30 am, and then we packed up the laundry to take it to the lovely Lavomat in Propriano. (It is right in the marina and intended, I suppose, for the people who come into harbor on their yachts.) Last night when we were there, it was totally empty, and no machines were in use at all, so imagine my surprise when I walked in at 8:20 am (10 minutes before opening time!) and all four washers were FULL of clothes spinning around! UGH! The shortest duration left was 24 minutes, so we sat down to wait for a machine. I was thinking that maybe all four machines were used by the same person, but as I waited, three different people showed up for their clothes. Of the three, only one person wanted to use a dryer, and as there were two dryers available, I figured we’d be all set. (So many Europeans think we Americans are weird and wasteful by insisting on using electricity to dry our clothes, rather than hanging them out the window or on a line!) Wash was rather expensive, I thought, at 8€ per load (for the smaller machines); 12€per load for the one really large machine. Drying was 2€ per 10 minutes, and we needed 30 minutes to dry. Feels so good to have all clean clothes (until tomorrow morning…) and now Robert has plenty of “unmentionables” to get home in!
We stopped and picked up Euros (not because we necessarily needed them, but because the exchange rate is so good for us now, and we always like to come home with some) and stopped at the Carrefour grocery store for some cherries for Robert and water for both of us. We were back to the hotel by about 11 am and I spent some time getting things organized. Then a strange thing happened! We looked at each other and Rasked the magic question: Do we REALLY want to go to that museum now? And honestly, the answer was NO, so instead of doing something we could photograph and write about, we spent the day on our balcony enjoying the view, the breeze and the down time! And, of course, I’m feeling guilt about it! Oh well! [Note: Actually, we accomplished what we came for: A better much appreciation of the Etruscans, who have always been something of a mystery to us, and some idea of the early history of this part of the Mediterranean.]
I had looked at the television channel’s coverage of the World Cup games, and interestingly enough, they’re not televising any of the three games today! How odd! So, about 5 pm this afternoon, we headed back to Propriano to watch some soccer matches (basically Senegal vs. Poland) at a sports bar, and have dinner somewhere in town.
We had to try two different spots before we found one where we could manage the smoking issue. Seriously, I have no idea why it seems that everyone on this island smokes! Young people, older people – even people pushing babies in strollers! I’d just like to SHAKE them! And what makes it even worse here in Corsica is that while there are often restaurants attached to the sports bar section, many of them are open to the air entirely, and you just can’t get away from it! In fact, with the place we went for dinner, it certainly didn’t help that the young 20-something waiter who helped us was standing in the doorway – SMOKING! I just wanted to yell: STOP IT! (I consumed a total of 2 Coke Zero’s and Robert had 3 glasses of biére and was floating…)
So, first the soccer results. Senegal defeated Poland by the score of 2-1 – and seriously, it wasn’t even that close a game! The second goal conceded by Poland was when the Polish keeper basically got caught almost at the center-line of the field and couldn’t get back fast enough to do his job. We were SO happy for the Senegal fans; we were definitely rooting for them! (Might as well, as the U.S. and my other favorite team, Italy, both failed to qualify this time!)
The timing worked out really well, as the game ended just when the restaurant, Mani, opened. It was highly recommended by TripAdvisor, and was very close to our sports bar – how convenient! We were, of course, the first people there, and took a table by the door. I just have to remember in future that that isn’t necessarily a good spot to avoid smoking. Then came the menus. Interesting. I’ve never heard of an octopus burger, have you? So, shunning octopus, fish and pork belly, I ended up ordering their tomato with burrata salad, which was not only lovely to look at, but tasted wonderfully. Robert, at my suggestion, ordered the Umbrina, which is a Mediterranean fish of the Croaker family, and a green salad. The fish came on a bed of very thinly sliced carrot and courgette (zucchini) with ginger – and the best thing was that he didn’t even have to bone it himself. He said everything was delicious, and devoured every bite. (The poor guy hasn’t been eating too well lately, as I’ve been rather off my feed…) He ordered a split of a local white wine that was excellent, and I had sparkling water. (I am definitely no fun at all!)
Finished about 8:15 pm and then back to Sartene. Tomorrow we pack everything up (except the ants…) and head back north, towards Bastia to catch the ferry back to Livorno on Thursday morning.
I do have a few observations (interesting or otherwise) to make about what we’ve found on Corsica. First of all, again, everyone seems to smoke. The cigarette packages all say, in very large black lettering Fumer Tue – which means SMOKING KILLS – but apparently that’s not discouraging enough! Also, a rather interesting observation – women here, regardless of age, all seem to wear shorts and flip flops, and love doing it! It seems in Tucson “women of a certain age” all wear pedal pushers or high water pants, which is Robert’s description of them. Everyone here looks so casual and comfortable and happy to be that way! I found that surprising – and definitely felt over-dressed in my tennis shoes! Also, there is lots to do when you’re not seeing museums and prehistoric sites here. Lots of different water options – different cruises to sign up for, heading different places. Really wish we had discovered it earlier, then we might have gone that route rather than reading books. However, be that as it may, we have very much enjoyed Corsica in spite of their incredibly aggressive drivers! So!
More tomorrow!
m
xxx
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