We didn't manage to visit Corsica on our way past in 2008 but always said we would on the way out of the Mediterranean. Also in 2008, we met Christine during our first winter in La Ciotat, France and we sailed together and shared lots of good times, but we haven't seen each other since then. In the meantime, Christine has given up sailing and now lives in Corsica. There wasn't a better incentive to visit the island.

After sitting out a couple of windy days in Porto Vecchio, we felt comfortable about leaving Deep Blue at anchor for our trip, something we have never done before. We left the dinghy in a quiet corner of the marina and took the bus for a 40 minute journey to meet Christine in Solenzara. We were also met by her new man, Toussaint (a born and bred Corsican) and her daughter, Amelie. As we had breakfast overlooking the port of Solenzara, we caught up on what we'd all been up to.

Christine has been very busy since she moved to Corsica and has built a villa for herself, Toussaint and their children and has also incorporated a B&B studio together with two small villas for holiday rentals. You can check them out on the Airbnb website.

We were made very welcome and tested out one of the holiday villas during our stay. We certainly felt as though we were on holiday as we lounged around the pool. But, we didn't lounge for long as they had put together a full itinerary to make the most of our short time together and to get a flavour of Corsica.

The timing of our visit could not have been better as Christine had a couple of days off work and it coincided with Toussaint's favourite Corsican singer, Jean Menconi, performing live that night with his band at a local restaurant, Le Bar Jean. We had a front-row table outside and enjoyed a delicious meal before the music began. Traditional Corsican music only uses the voices as instruments though they played guitar and accordion. The songs tend to be ballads, mostly about 'liberté' and the country. However, it wasn't all Corsican and there were plenty of French songs too. The restaurant and outside area were packed with everyone singing along and the only reason the music stopped after 3 hours was when someone complained about the noise and the local gendarmerie turned up, fined and prosecuted the young bar owner and the evening ended with everyone stood up singing a rousing rendition of the Corsican national hymn - we could have been in Wales!

Although we'd had a late night the previous evening, we had a full day ahead the next day and left to see some of Corsica's beautiful countryside and have a traditional farmer's lunch. Toussaint drove us up the winding roads, and through lush forests until we reached the Col de Bavella, high granite fingers of mountain pointing up to the sky. From there, we headed to Quenza where we picked up signs for 'Pierrot' which took us up a pot-holed, country road to a farm where we sat at a communal table inside and had a traditional Corsican lunch of home-cured meats, pasta, beef stew and vegetables, followed by cheese and fruit, all washed down with plenty of red wine, in the company of Pierrot himself who, at 81, talked to Toussaint in Corsican (which we couldn't understand) about his proposed 3-month trip across Corsica on horse-back!)

We were all in need of a siesta but instead, drove a little higher to be rewarded by the Plateau du Cuscioni, where we walked among wild pigs and sheep and dipped our toes in the cooling streams. It was like being in a magical fairyland. Apparently, pigs, cattle and sheep are allowed to wander freely, which is why they taste so good!

Our time together over, we were dropped off at Porto Vecchio to find both dinghy and Deep Blue still there, phew. Our short time together certainly gave us a good taste of some of the best of Corsica; lush countryside with spectacular forests and mountains, a real outdoor persons kind of place, delicious food and heartfelt music and traditions but most of all, we enjoyed being with old friends and new. Thank you Christine and Toussaint.