Macinaggio

We headed for Macinaggio where we planned to stop for the night. We wanted to visit the Domaine Nicrosi which we had been told was THE place for Muscat and White wines but after nearly an hour following signs though the countryside, we discovered that it was actually opposite the hotel where we would be staying in Macinaggio!



Unfortunately, it was closed and the hotelier told us that the quality of the wines were not what they once were, so we stopped at another vineyard but were unable to taste the wines before buying. In the end we decided that we would probably be better off stopping on the way home at Mme Lazzarini's domaine in Patrimonio.



We had lunch at the Osteria di u Portu on the waterfront at Macinaggio which seemed to be popular with the locals - always a good sign. I chose Spider Crab Pasta but then had to spend most of the lunch trying to extract my food from spindly legs, but it was very tasty, so well worth the effort. Iain decided to have a dessert and his Fiadone (Corsican cheesecake) was one of the best I have ever tasted.



After lunch we strolled along the harbour looking at boats and then took the dog for a walk along the beach and then up the start of the Sentier des Douanier (Customs officers path). The track started to climb quite steeply and there were steep drops so we decided that it wasn't really practical with the dog, so we re-traced our steps and took the inland track instead.



I really enjoyed the circuit which took us about an hour or just over, and we discovered some intriguing ancient dwellings nestled amongst the undergrowth. The bit of beach nearest to the hotel where we were staying (u Ricordu) was a bit seaweedy, but that might have been because of the bad weather they had had the week before. However, as we were walking, we saw quite a few cars passing us that seemed to be heading nowhere, but it turned out that they were going to the parking area for the Plage de Tamarone - a clean sandy beach just about 2.5km from the town. Apparently, this beach is the start of the Site Naturel de Capandula which encompases the northeastern tip of Cap Corse and some of the peninsula's most beautiful beaches.



The hotel itself looked fairly simple from the outside, but was clean and comfortable and the staff were really friendly and helpful. I also managed to connect my laptop from the bar/breakfast room but I'm not sure whether that was a bonus or not as it meant I could see all the work waiting for me when I got home!