Wikipedia says: The southern coast in the vicinity of Bonifacio is an outcrop of chalk-white limestone, precipitous and sculpted into unusual shapes by the ocean. Slightly further inland the limestone adjoins the granite of which the two islands, Sardinia and Corsica, are formed. The port of Bonifacio is placed on the Bay of Bonifacio, a drowned ravine of a fjord-like appearance separated from the ocean by a finger-like promontory 1,500 meters (4,900 ft) long and 200 meters (660 ft) wide.






Bonifacio caused our mouths to drop open and remain there until we docked. Pulling into the fiord harbor is indeed impressive, especially as it narrows, boats get crowded, and you don't know where you are going. Tour boat captains ferrying day trippers seem exempt from the 5-knot speed limit, and pass you, pinning you between their boat and a stone cliff. Fortunately, we were directed to a spot on the wall fairly early into the harbor, 15 feet from a pricey yacht provisioning store, a knife store that sell Vendetta brand Vendetta knives, and the Kissing Pigs restaurant. It is worth notig that Bonifacio is the setting of Guy de Maupassant's short story, Vendetta.
Perhaps 50 tourists walked past on the narrow street watching us dock, so naturally, I missed the dock TWICE while throwing the line. The chef on the boat next door took pity and walked my line from his boat to the Marina man (don't know the French name- the ormeggiatiore in Italy, the marinero in Spain).



I was in the yacht-provisioning store in minutes, and bought 3 bottles of Domaine D'Ott, my favorite Bandol Rosé from Provence. Rudy tells me Bandol is 5 minutes from La Ciotat, where we plan to winter the boat. We walked to the marina office, a nice 15 minute walk along the waterfront shops and cafés, checked in and got trail maps for hikes in the area. We walked up to the citadel and from there along the limestone cliffs to look back on Bonifacio. Stunning.
We showered, drank our Rose with French cheese, and had dinner at the Kissing Pigs, which was very satisfying!



The next morning went for a hike from Bonifacio to Paraguan Bay then onto L'hermitage au Trinite, which was a cross perched atop a pink limestone rock pinnacle. Along the way up to it were various odd rock formations of limestone weathered into odd shapes. On the way back we detoured to the point of Madonetta Lighthouse, which included 2 private beaches and another limestone cliff walk. Such diversity and beauty in one hike!! Granted it was 10 miles before we got home, but anyway. The last part from the lighthouse back to Bonifacio included the opposite of the harbor entrance, which is spectacular.



We were starving when we returned, so we went to dinner and had Moules Frite at a close but perfectly beautiful waterfront café, and chatted with two Asian girls from the Bay Area who work in the tech world. So small it is!