Do you know the joke of Merel travelling to Slovenia and Austria? She didn’t go. Going on vacation during the corona crisis seemed like a good plan. We would be leaving the big city for nature, where the risk of catching covid19 is way smaller than in Paris. Unfortunately our planned trip was cancelled and we had to change our plans super last-minute. We still wanted to leave the city for two weeks and booked a flight to a total different destination, not even 24 hours before our departure. At first we were quite bummed, but in the end it was a good choice and we definitely had a good vacation.
The original plan: flying to Ljubljana in the early morning of Saturday august 22nd for a two week road trip through Slovenia and Austria. We had booked nice hotels, thought about what we wanted to do and already imagined ourselves walking through the Austrian Alps. Ofcourse we kept an eye on the travel advice and considered the fact that it all might change really quickly. 24 hours before flying out, we both had a good feeling about it. We had checked in for our flights and assumed we would actually get to take this trip. Around 6 o’clock the night before we got a message that Slovenia had changed the travel advice. Without a negative Corona test, tourist from France would not be welcome in the country (The Netherlands were even on the red list countries). Since we supposed to fly out at 9AM the next morning, it was impossible to still take a test. Well, that was our trip.
Change of plans
We were able to cancel our flights and luckily the cancellation of our hotels and B&B’s were free of charge (that’s why we picked some of them, because we knew the risk of vacation during the corona crisis). The Friday night, when we were supposed to pack our last bags, turned into the night of having to book our new vacation. We choose to make it ‘easy’ for ourselves and booked a two week trip to Corsica. The parents of my boyfriend have a house on the island, so we didn’t have to think about booking an accommodation.
Saturday night we left for our fourth trip to the French island, even though we were a little less happy this time. We’ve spend the first week with just the two of us and during the second week my boyfriends parents joined us. They had actually booked their trip way before we did.
Mini roadtrip
During our previous vacations on Corsica we stayed in the holiday house during or entire time on the island. This time we decided to visit some new places and slept in hotels for a few nights. We took our first roadtrip as a couple, two days to Corte and the last two days we drove around the Cap Corse with a night somewhere in a little town on the coast. Road trip two was with the parents of my boyfriend, we slept in Ajaccio and Porto Ota. All the places we have visited, were places that I had never been before and I definitely enjoyed that. Even though everything was different than we had planned, I did really enjoy our vacation. I really had the summer break feeling and enjoyed all the good moments. I was able to see new parts of the island that have actually impressed me. And lets be honest: Corsica actually has a lot to offer. Snorkling in de Mediterranean sea, hiking in the mountains, sitting on a terrace in the ‘big city’ or taking a boat trip, it is all possible. (and we did it all haha).
Vacation during the corona crisis
To go straight to the point: we didn’t really notice a lot from the corona crisis during our vacation. Corsica is part of France and a lot of the restrictions are the same as on the mainland. Wearing a face mask is mandatory in all public spaces. So that means that you have to do groceries while wearing a face mask. This as been mandatory for weeks now and it is nothing different than doing groceries in Paris. On the day of our departure the city of Paris made wearing a face mask mandatory all over the city. This wasn’t the case at Corsica, so we actually gained another two weeks of breathing in fresh air. The cities on the island have certain parts where it is mandatory to wear a mask, so we did have one with us at all times. For instance: when you want to go out for dinner, you have to wear a mask on the terrace or inside until you are seated at your table. Walking into a souvenir store without a mask is not an option. So the ‘beautiful blue mask’ is now a part of my outfit.
All together I am really grateful that we were still able to go in vacation this summer. Last May I thought there would be no travelling for us this year. Now, with the weird circumstances of this year, I have enjoyed walking in the mountains, swimming in the sea and sitting on a terrace with a Corsican beer even more than before. And it all felt relatively normal.
These upcoming weeks you can expect quite some articles about this trip, because there is so much that I would like to share with you. Travel tips, hotel and restaurant reviews, a lot of pictures and the video that I am going to make about this trip. Stay tuned!
