Grand Excursion

 At the recommendation of Danica and Samuel who were in Bastia last year, I planned to have lunch at La Cabane du Lodu, describing it a a cooler version of Lukes in Kuaotunu.

As for many things, there are always more than one way to skin a cat - in this case the 'cat' being getting there. The cat could bus, taxi uber or hire a scooter. The options were quickly eliminated - it was the 1st of September, the office de tourisme was not sure exactly but thought 'buses had stopped going to St Florent but would start again next week when school went back'.

So I hired a scooter, and because I'm a big girl with a motorbike licence, I was offered the 125cc bike, and was very excited to see that for once, given all the scoot hires on this trip to date, it came with a helmet AND gloves. Shout out to Corse Moto Location - incredibly professional and helpful.

My plan is to scoot to Saint Florent, take a water taxi to Plage du Lotu and then walk the track to the cafe.

On this wee map, you can see Bastia and then on the other side of that finger of land, you can see Saint Florent. Between the two is a mountainous range. The guy at the bike shop assured me that it was simple to find the route to St Florent - through 'the le grand tunnel, follow the coast road until it points to the mountain et voila'. Having been in tunnels on a motorbike before (Hvar!) I removed by sunglasses before leaving - scary in a long tunnel when you can't because you are wearing

sunglasses.

I got lost a few times, not so simple,  but ended up on the Route de Royales as it climbed steeper and steeper, then hit the low cloud line, and then even steeper. I had a sweatshirt with me so stopped to layer up - - then slowly down again until the port of St Florent was signposted. Parked up, raced to the marina and booked a water taxi for 30 minutes later. Time to breathe, layer off, coffee, find a toilet (what? 4 euro for a coffee?) and buy a top as an extra layer for the later afternoon return. (check out the clouds on the mountain road).

Saint Florent is very touristy, a lot busier than Bastia, and  has some serious boats in the marina. 

The water taxi had us over to Plage du Lotu within 15 fast paced minutes, and it was just... So Beautiful - the water sooo incredibly clear, so blue, and SAND, Real Sand - not pebbles, not stones, but beautiful fine white sand. 

I sat on the beach for 30 minutes waiting for the time for the cafe booking and then followed the dirt path.

And the cafe was everything Danica and Samuel said it was (without the swarm of wasps that they warned me about) - the cocktail was divine, the salad was stunning. the view and everything else, perfect.

It was a perfect day - you have to make sure you have a reservation at the cafe and everything flows from there - afterwards I lay in the sun, swam, sun, swam, and then back on the taxi boat at 4;30. And for those detail folk, yes I did need that extra layer - it was really very cold, you could feel the temperature dropping as the altitude changed.