Day 9: Calvi - Pisa ~ France - Italy

Sadly we already had to leave Corsica again. Today's ride didn't make leaving any easier. After leaving our hotel in Calvi we headed north on small and twisty side roads again. St. Florent, where the Romans founded 'Nebbium' nearly 2000 years ago, was our first coffee stop before we hit the absolutely spectacular coastline of Cap Corse! After taking lots of good pictures in Nonza high up a cliff overlooking the beach down at the sea we also took some really cool riding pictures! Have a look! Afterwards we went to the ferry port in Bastia, the second largest city of Corsica. On the ferry then the motto was relaxing in the sun at deck. The ship took us safely and nearly in time back to the big italian boot. The last ride from Livorno to Pisa was quite short and brought is directly to the leaning tower. What a view and what a building!

There you can see Nonza in the background with it's amazing black beach in front.

Cap Corse - what a beautiful coastline!

Alessandro and his father Sergio having a good time on their Ducatis.

Lincoln also enjoys the scenic views along the twisty roads in Corsica.

Our last view on Bastia from the ferry leaving for Italy again.

Welcome to Pisa!

And welcome to the leaning tower, torre pendente or Campanilo.

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Day 8: Rest day in Calvi

It's rest day again - and as in Sardegna, the Ducati motorcycles get a rest day as well! Everybody is going for the other attractions, which Calvi has to offer. Half of the group decided to take it easy - sleep in, have a great breakfast at the pool, and then explore the city.

The other half rented a boat in the Calvi port and headed south to explore the coast line that we had seen before on our way to Calvi on the back of our bikes.

Junior, Marco, Gary and Duda

Calvi from the seaside

Gary has everything under control!

The day was topped off with a great lunch of Mediterranean "Moules" and a walk up to Calvi's famous Citadelle!

Duda, Marco, Lincoln, Gary and lots of mussels

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Day 7: Ajaccio - Calvi

From Corsica's capital Ajaccio we turned our bikes to the north for one of the most scenic days of this tour. Today's highlight was the Calanche region, probably one of the most breathtaking sections of the beautiful Corsican coastline. The mix of colors between the clear blue water, the red granite rocks, the green Macchie and the blue sky above would be a painter's or photographer's dream!

Leonardo and his Ducati Monster

The Calanche

The whole coast between Ajaccio and Calvi is perfect for motorcyclists - incredible roads and amazing vistas after every one of the countless turns and curves! But eventually we made it to Calvi - and as if we had planned it, we all met just short of the town for another group foto:

The day ended in the usual Edelweiss fashion...with a remarkable dinner, mainly consisting of fresh seafood, caught in the ocean just a few meters from the restaurant!

Tony Flag, Sonia and the catch of the day

Dinner in Calvi

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Day 6: Bonifacio - Ajaccio

Corsica - equivalent to good food, beautiful coastline and also high mountains (more than 50 are over 2000 meters high)! First we followed the eastern coast to Solenzara, where we prepared ourselves for the mountains that stood in our way towards Ajaccio.

Alessandro and Sergio

Then it was time for our first excursion into the Corsican mountains - the Col de Bavella was waiting, unfortunately the beautiful scenery was hidden by a few clouds...

Junior, Lincoln, Leonardo, Sergio, José and Alessandro

The rest of the day consisted of the usual ingredients: twisty roads, a great lunch and finally our hotel waiting for us - this time in Corsica's capitol: Ajaccio.

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Day  5:

We had to say goodbye to Sardegna - but not before we visited the Costa Smeralda, probably Sardegna's most beautiful coastline. Then we took the ferry to Corsica - and what we saw from the boat was quite promising: beautiful white cliffs and on top of them Bonifacio, one of Corsica's most beautiful cities.

Marco, Duda and Gary are ready to explore Corsica:

Marco, Duda, Gary

The dinner in Bonifacio was just as exceptional as the first impression of Corsica:

Lincoln, José, Sergio, Leonardo and Junior - and some fresh oysters

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Rest day in Alghero!

After three days of riding, we really deserved a day of rest - at least that's what I thought. I didn't consider that our group consists of Brazilians -  a rest day for them means: exercise!

Fortunately the hotel has some mountain bikes for rent... The group split up: one group, including Alessandro, who celebrates his birthday today (congratulations), rented a boat to explore the Mediterranean Sea. The other half took the mountain bikes and explored the area.

Marco, Gary, Duda and Lincoln on the way to Capo Caccia:

After the 30 km trip to Capo Caccia, we decided to add another 20 km and have lunch in Alghero - the day was topped of with great fish, fresh from the ocean, pizza, and of course the mandatory gelato!

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Day 3:

What a day! This day is the longest of the whole tour, about 300 km! If you are from Texas, this sounds like a three hour ride... but if you include about 2000 turns and twists, this is definitely a full day of riding!

In the morning, we explored the Gennargentu mountains - whoever put 6 gears into the Ducatis has not ridden here: gears 1-3 were all we needed until lunch...

Later we made the mandatory stop at one of Sardegna's most important historic sites, the Nuraghe Su Nuraxi, which is listed on the UNESCO world heritage list:

The center of the island was pretty warm, so we were quick to make it back to the coastline - this time Sardegna's west coast. A natural arch in the Mediterranean Sea was the perfect background to our Brazilian group:

Now we have reached Alghero - dinner time!

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Day 2:

Sardegna greeted us with blue skies and crystal clear water - what a start. Breakfast was the first stop, the view competed with the quality of the Cappucchino!

Here is another look at the incredible Sardinian landscape and at our great group from Brazil:

And now it was time to ride! The roads in Sardegna are incredible, twisty and in great condition!

And now we have arrived in Arbatax - this is what the area (and the roads) look like:

There is one more thing to do: watch the soccer game tonight, Brazil opens the World Championship!

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Day 1:

We started early to beat the heat and of course to be at the Ducati Museum and Factory on time. It was worth it - we saw an incredible collection of beautiful motorcycles, starting with Ducati's first engine, continuing with all the successful race bikes and ending with the latest beauty: the Panigale Superleggera!

After a visit in the adjacent Ducati Factorystore, we headed south into the mountains of Tuscany. We stopped in Lucca, where Sergio and Alessandro Lucchesi traced their (possible) roots... And after a final dinner on the Italian mainland, it was time to board the ferry, which would take us to Sardegna!

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Everybody is here - Sardegna here we come.

After the initial safety briefing, the handover of the motorcycles and a great Italian dinner, we are now ready to go.

Tomorrow, we will first explore Ducati - the factory, the museum and of course the store! Then we will head for the Mediterranean coast, catch the ferry and finally we will wake up to a sunrise over Sardegna... what a life!

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The 2014 Edelweiss Ducati Tour is getting ready for the start on Tuesday! The Multistradas and Monsters are being serviced, tomorrow they will be on their way to Bologna, where we will start our tour to the Mediterranean islands of Sardegna and Corsica.

The weather forecast is excellent - as usual in this area this time of the year.

Keep checking the blog for further updates as the tour gets started!

Sardegna

Sardegna

Corsica