Corsica - A Magical Weekend Getaway
by Kendra Peterson, Chef and Owner of Drizzle Kitchen
The South of France offers so many beautiful places to spend your time on holiday! With the hardest decision being where to spend a long weekend, Corsica was our chosen destination for a four-night magical weekend away.
A short flight from Marseille landed us at the tiniest airport. A quick 15-minute drive brought us to our hotel, which greeted us with a giant installation of a spray-painted French bulldog. I knew this property would be perfect, as I have a French bulldog in Chicago! The true magic of La Villa Calvi was the gorgeous view of the city and water, especially from the restaurant, from breakfast till sundowners.
While we loved lounging by one of the pools, the intimate beach club is really where we wanted to spend our time. A quick drive down to the beach brought us to the cutest private club: so peaceful, tranquil, and beautiful. And even though the beach is public (like all beaches in France are), with many people swimming, strolling through the sand, and enjoying themselves, I was surprised at how quiet it was. A seaside nap is one of the best things to enjoy!
On our first night, we decided to head to a somewhat touristy but intimate cliffside dinner at U Nichjaretu for sunset cocktails and classic Corsican roasted lamb. It was here that I discovered Corsica has its own version of the Aperol Spritz-Capo Spritz- and it’s just as addictive! A definite must for dinner, just be sure you can handle the windy, narrow switchbacks your driver will take you through to reach this beautiful spot!
On our second day, we decided to take an adventure! La Villa offers Jeeps for rent on property, and the concierge helped us plan our day full of climbing old steps, enjoying rosé at family-run wineries, and drinking fresh lemonade at the peak of St. Antonino. Driving through the sweetest old towns, stopping to discover old churches, artisans, and sipping the occasional espresso to help keep us going was a fantastic way to explore the island! Navigation was very easy, and stumbling upon quaint villages on the top of mountains led to beautiful views and a simple but delicious café lunch.
After a day exploring, we decided to allow La Villa to treat us to its own beautiful views with dinner on the patio. Fantastic service and, of course, my Capo Spritz to start the evening was followed with a lovely and inventive meal focusing on seafood and local vegetables.
Our third day was hands down our favorite. As Shawna always says, “A boat day is always the best day!” and I am always reminded that she is right! Our Huffman Travel Advisor, Lauren, arranged a picnic basket for us from the hotel, and we drove five minutes down to the waterfront to board our beautiful boat. Our captain was so joyful, kind, and full of amazing information about the UNESCO heritage site that much of the island’s coastline encompasses. We have never seen water this beautiful and clear! As the boat slowed and hugged the coast, we were surrounded by incredible lava and rock formations at every turn. Our cruise brought us to the sweetest little beach landing with picnic tables, cafes, and beach bars. As we set up our picnic goodies, we noticed cows were lounging on the beach. They wander down to the waterfront from the local farms and love the views and the sand as much as the humans do!
With a bottle of wine and bellies full of the most delicious picnic, with incredible attention to my gluten-free needs, we boarded the boat to reluctantly head back. Such a magical day that will forever live in our memory!
For our final night, I wanted to stay in town near La Villa. As a chef, I love enjoying some of the more casual food when I travel, and A Piazzetta was a fun, buzzy spot, full of locals! Plenty of traditional Corsican food to choose from and plenty of people watching. We found that most Corsicans speak a decent amount of English, and the most surprising thing is how few Americans travel there. We often were greeted with excitement that we were from the US, followed by a “How did you find out about Corsica?” It made the island feel even more special and intimate!
After dinner, a little stroll through town to window shop and listen to the water crashing once more was what we needed before our last sleep in our stunning apartment-sized room. All of a sudden, our three-day trip was coming to a close but not without beautiful memories of Italian-influenced French cuisine, the loveliest of boat days, sand between our toes, and plenty of Capo Spritz. An island we will absolutely return to for more of it all!
