It takes a lot to tempt me away from the beaches of the Valinco, but Tamaricciu has a lot; fine sandy beaches, shallow clear water, views to die for, a jetset clientele and three beachside restaurants - what more could you ask for?
We’d decided to make an early start as it takes about an hour and a half from Propriano, and I was glad we did because when we arrived, we had the beach virtually to ourselves. We settled ourselves at the far end away from the restaurants which are huddled together further up.
Building works close to the beach are strictly regulated in Corsica, but they seem to have made an exception in this case!
We’d been joined by Jean-Francois’ dog who apparently lives in one of the residences on the hillside looking over the bay. He obviously took a shine to us as he paddled with Guillaume and joined in half-heartedly with a game of ball before it all got too much and he flopped onto the sand for a snooze.
Whilst the others were playing on the sand, my attention had been caught by a rather portly chap and his wife a little further along the beach. He was in the water up to his knees with what looked like a pair of cooking tongs, flinging things from the sea onto the sand. I honestly couldn’t work out what or why but it turned out to be little jellyfish (meduses).
When we studied more closely, there were lots of the little blighters close to the waters edge, only about 3-4cm in diametre, but enough to give a sting nonetheless. By this time we were starting to get a bit peckish, so we decided to wander up to the restaurants, and perhaps explore the beach the other side after lunch.
All three of the beachside restaurants have fabulous views over the turquoise waters, and having checked on the internet for opening times (it is only the end of April after all), we’d decided to try ‘Le Tamaricciu’. However, a quick look at the menu to find that one course was close to 30 euros each, quickly decided us to try one of the others!
In the end we settled on ‘Le Palm Beach’ just next door which had a good choice of dishes and the prices were much more reasonable. We chose a Gnocchi with Gorgonzola and ham and the Octopus salad which was served with an unusual black pasta which was surprisingly tasty!
So, once lunch was out of the way, a quick snooze on the sand seemed in order! We continued on past the restaurants where there was quite a bit of seaweed, to an absolutely idyllic spot close to the rocks.
I have never seen such clear calm waters, and it was almost impossible to tell where the sea starts and the sand ends! We sat and watched as the yachts and little motorboats arrived for a late lunch. Here you can truly see how the other half live…
The other advantage to the shallow waters is that they are warmed very quickly by the sun. Today there was no breeze and the temperature was close to 30 degrees so the water was like a bath. It wasn’t long before Guillaume found some little friends and they were playing Tarzan together, running in and out of the water and jumping off rocks - eek!
So what a fabulous day; in the sea for the first time this year, nice and brown from the sun, well fed at ‘Le Palm Beach’, ice creams on the way back to the car. Just a shame that we found our feet and crocs covered in tar. Gggr!
We’d decided to make an early start as it takes about an hour and a half from Propriano, and I was glad we did because when we arrived, we had the beach virtually to ourselves. We settled ourselves at the far end away from the restaurants which are huddled together further up.
Building works close to the beach are strictly regulated in Corsica, but they seem to have made an exception in this case!
We’d been joined by Jean-Francois’ dog who apparently lives in one of the residences on the hillside looking over the bay. He obviously took a shine to us as he paddled with Guillaume and joined in half-heartedly with a game of ball before it all got too much and he flopped onto the sand for a snooze.
Whilst the others were playing on the sand, my attention had been caught by a rather portly chap and his wife a little further along the beach. He was in the water up to his knees with what looked like a pair of cooking tongs, flinging things from the sea onto the sand. I honestly couldn’t work out what or why but it turned out to be little jellyfish (meduses).
When we studied more closely, there were lots of the little blighters close to the waters edge, only about 3-4cm in diametre, but enough to give a sting nonetheless. By this time we were starting to get a bit peckish, so we decided to wander up to the restaurants, and perhaps explore the beach the other side after lunch.
All three of the beachside restaurants have fabulous views over the turquoise waters, and having checked on the internet for opening times (it is only the end of April after all), we’d decided to try ‘Le Tamaricciu’. However, a quick look at the menu to find that one course was close to 30 euros each, quickly decided us to try one of the others!
In the end we settled on ‘Le Palm Beach’ just next door which had a good choice of dishes and the prices were much more reasonable. We chose a Gnocchi with Gorgonzola and ham and the Octopus salad which was served with an unusual black pasta which was surprisingly tasty!
So, once lunch was out of the way, a quick snooze on the sand seemed in order! We continued on past the restaurants where there was quite a bit of seaweed, to an absolutely idyllic spot close to the rocks.
I have never seen such clear calm waters, and it was almost impossible to tell where the sea starts and the sand ends! We sat and watched as the yachts and little motorboats arrived for a late lunch. Here you can truly see how the other half live…
The other advantage to the shallow waters is that they are warmed very quickly by the sun. Today there was no breeze and the temperature was close to 30 degrees so the water was like a bath. It wasn’t long before Guillaume found some little friends and they were playing Tarzan together, running in and out of the water and jumping off rocks - eek!
So what a fabulous day; in the sea for the first time this year, nice and brown from the sun, well fed at ‘Le Palm Beach’, ice creams on the way back to the car. Just a shame that we found our feet and crocs covered in tar. Gggr!
No comments:
Post a Comment