The Curse of Corsica

Yesterday I came back from a family holiday in Corsica. There were seven of us in total, as we were accompanied by the Elderkin family (consisting of two parents, Kath and John, and one of their daughters, Sarah). It was the second time I have been there, and, by my estimations, we managed to offend a local gypsy woman who cursed all our trips there. This was not to say that it wasn't an enjoyable trip. It was. However, there are always, to put it mildly, glitches. So here is a run down of my holiday.

Sunday
Sunday we arrived in Corsica after having got up at 3:15am, for a 6am flight. We left a wet and cold Gatwick and found ourselves in a hot and dry Ajaccio. We got our hire-car and drove for about an hour to a town called Sajone (like Saigon, but with an 'ah' not and 'ay' sound). We had some lunch and then went for a swim. Cue incident number one.

Stephen and I usually do not go out of our depths when in the sea, but this time the sea got deep and then there was a sandbank which caused it to get shallower. I didn't like being so far out so I turned around, and found it hard to get out. It was difficult to get anywhere, but I pushed on and got to the shore. Stephen, despite turning around just after me, was finding it a lot harder. So much so that he had to ask John for help. The waves were getting choppier and they both would disappear under a wave to reappear some seconds later. They were obviously struggling. My mum was getting hysterical, I was praying and we watched them slowly make their way forward. After about ten agonising minutes Stephen slumped onto the beach, completely white, and crawled up to where we had our stuff. It was scary.

We then drove to where we were staying, having to drive through Les Calanques. These are precipitous cliffs that fall into the sea, with huge coaches blocking the winding roads. They were stunning though. We got to our accommodation in a little village called Partinello (or Partinellu in Corse). It was a bit basic, and had no kettle or mugs. We were obviously in France.

Monday
This was a quiet day and we went to the nearest big town, Porto. It's a nice little port town with an old Genovese Tower.We went to the beach, playing volleyball, sunbathing and explored said tower. The glitch occurred a bit later when my dad fell through an old chair he was sitting on. It happened with a startling crunch and the sound of a shattering bowl and there was my dad surrounded by broken wood.

That's it for part one...stay tuned for the other two Ashmead incidents, mine involving Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus...