Heaven on Earth

Our next stop after Venice was the island of Corsica, in the Mediterranean off the coasts of Italy and France. We arrived in Toulon, France by dinnertime Tuesday, met up with Matt and Molly, who were coming from Paris after doing their own things for the first weekend, and grabbed some Chinese food. Spiciness, finally, I’d been missing it like crazy here in Europe. And then we boarded a ferry, which was more of a cruise ship, but super cheap considering, overnight to Corsica. Even though we had been up early the day before to catch our train to Toulon, we got up early Wednesday morning to see the sunrise over the island.

It was gorgeous. Like heaven on earth, hence the title of this blog. I mean, just take a look at the pictures. I knew from pictures and people talking that Corsica was supposed to be amazing, but it just didn’t compare to being there ourselves. (I didn’t get to see dolphins… That was a huge disappointment, but the rest of Corsica definitely made up for it.)

So we landed early in the morning, found a tourist office to leave our luggage at, grabbed some coffee to keep us awake, and then headed to a beach! We found one by the walls of an old citadel after only five minutes of walking. It was seriously beautiful. And really warm, perfect temperature to be in the Mediterranean on an island. And sunny. Really, just the perfect day. So we played in the sand for a bit, clambered over rocks on the coastline, and ran into the sea to swim in the perfectly crystal-clear water. And tossed a Frisbee, probably my favorite part.

After relaxing for a few hours, though, we decided it was time for lunch and to go get some open water kayaks. So we did. Sarah and Molly actually did get into a kayak, I was so proud of them! Even though they freaked out and decided staying on the beach was a better idea. So Matt and I headed out for a few hours of pure bliss off the coast of the most beautiful island in the most beautiful sea in the world. In my humble opinion. The best few hours of the entire trip so far, without contest, and that’s saying something. Although seeing my best friend Kate in Athens tomorrow may just be up there too. It’ll be a hard choice!

By the time we got back and FINALLY found food that was open, it was dark and we only had a couple hours before our overnight ferry back to Toulon left, so we relaxed for a bit and got ready to live in a moving water palace again for a night. And to shower, because all that saltwater and wet clothes just weren’t gonna cut it for another 24 hours. And after all that exercise and the great fried dinner we got on the boat, we crashed like babies.

So now I’m in Rome (after way too long on trains) for the night, ready to board my flight to Athens in the morning. And I really can’t wait to see just how the second weekend and then next week of break compare to the first. If it’s even close, these will be some of the best two weeks of my life.

Rest of the photos: https://picasaweb.google.com/100454144518688283131/HeavenOnEarth