Re-Cap Corse

It didn't really feel like Wednesday ended since we only had about five hours to sleep on the ferry before they kicked us out. I actually had no trouble sleeping. Those of you who have shared a bed with me (and man, there are a lot of you...just kiddin) know that I rock myself to sleep every night, so a nice rocking boat was no prob. But still, the "get the f out of your cabin" announcement in French at 6:30 a.m. was extremely unwelcome.

The rest of our time in France was kind of a blur, kind of rushed, and very annoying. Park in Nice. Eat (a sadly terrible) breakfast. Search (fruitlessly) for Liza's light store. Repack suitcases in parking garage (and successfully divvy up remaining wine). Search for gas station. Return rental car (without ever having taken in a passport - HA!). Find cab. Have cab take us to wrong terminal. Check in. Eat (a better) breakfast. Say goodbye. Wait 3 hours for my flight. Get row to myself and quality sleepy time. Arrive to chaos at JFK. Discover flight to DCA is cancelled. Panic. Buy train ticket. Take subway to wrong place. Get off subway and find cab. Take $80 cab ride to Penn Station. Make train by about 5 mins. Sit in cafe car because train is too full. Feel embrassed about my general appearance and demeanor. Get in cab line at Union Station. Get out of cab line and take metro home. Arrive home. Go to sleep. Try not to cry.

So that's it. It's my 100th post on this blog. Does that mean I've spent 100 days of traveling with Liza? If so, consider this a toast to the next 100. Here's a few of the things I forgot, a few of our top hits, and a few excuses to keep typing.

A TWINGO ATE YOUR BABY
When we picked up our car in Nice we were like shiiiiiiiit. That's small. Thankfully we only had to cram four people and four suitcases into it twice, and not for very long either time. Other than that, the turquoise Twingo was da bomb.

EMBRACING YOUR INNER PIRATE
The Corsican flag is a  pirate. It's an homage to their constantly evolving shitty place in the world. Something about the pirate lifestyle really inspired me, and I felt compelled to steal as many things as possible (not from stores, just from restaurants...which makes it totally okay). My favorite thing I stole was a glass from Le Disilleries Ideales, Nice's top happy hour/people watching destination. Unfortunately I did not make it home with it (see below).

WHERE. ARE YOUR. STRIPES.
I can't tell whether it's an OCD thing, a vacation thing, or just an adorable thing, but Liza's obsession with stripes has grown drastically over the last 100 days of vacationing. On our first trip, she was only insistent we wear stripes for a gondola ride in Venice. For this trip, every day started with "let me see your stripes." We literally wore stripes every. single. day. And you know what? There are worse things.

THE LUCKY EURO
This is the most heartbreaking story. Our first ten mins in Nice, Liza and I flung open the windows to greet the city with a BONJOUR!!! We excitedly discovered a single euro coin sitting on the roof slats right under the window. Liza immediately proclaimed it our lucky euro, and we hid it away so our money grubbing friends La Mer and The Heff wouldn't try to spend it. The lucky euro stayed with us through it all, making it's home inside my favorite stolen glass. Somewhere on our drive back north on our last day I had this horrible feeling that the lucky euro had been left behind in the hotel. This fear was honestly part of the reason i didn't want to risk the drive around Cap Corse. And in the end - that gut instinct was correct: lucky euro was gone. When I was freaking out at JFK about getting home, the first thing to go through my mind was GODDAM LUCKY EURO!!!!

FAVORITES
-Favorite meal: Beef carpaccio the side of my face + oysters from Etang di Diana on the pier in Porto Vecchio

-Favorite lodging: Hotel Dolce Notte in Saint Florent. Despite the fact that none of us are ever welcome there again, it was right on it's own private beach and walking distance to town. Plus the site of some groundbreaking choreography

-Favorite bar: Chez Wayne in Nice. Hands down. Any place where dancing on the tables is encouraged is okay with me.

-Favorite day: Hiking day in Corte. Just all around a super awesome day, despite some moments on that mountain when I was ready to kill someone (or afraid I'd be killed). Truly one of my favorite days ever on any of our trips.

Favorite beach: Plage de Saleccia. Hands down best beach ever on the planet the end next question. Second best: Isles Lavezzi.

Favorite new career path: Professional snorkeler.

Favorite winery: Super tough one. We're going with three-way tie between Orenga de Gaffory (because Henri and Antoine were awesome), Torracia (because of our friendly American encounter), or Pastricciola (because the little guy Marc was so friendly AND cut us a deal).


Most Valuable Player: Stripes

Least Valuable Player: Mufflon (bearded hawks?)

See you next year!