Coastline's Dream Holiday for Grazia's Jane Bruton
My dream holiday scenario: After a panicky day at work I return home to find a perfectly packed capsule wardrobe, my fake tan develops into a deep Piz Buin gold and tickets/money/passport sit by the door raring to go. The reality: After a panicky day at work I return home to a pile of dirty washing, the fake tan I apply embeds itself neon orange onto my knees and my eldest son Arthur is burning up with suspected Swine Flu. A night of hunt the Tamiflu ensues and our trip to Corsica seems unlikely. But behold! By 7am Arthur’s temperature is normal and, hooray, we can go. However, the stress, lack of sleep and the fact Jonah, my youngest, decides to be sick in the car after we land brings a feeling of doom as well as an unpleasant fragrance for the next three hours. Maybe we should have holidayed at home, where Kwells are readily available, rather than head to an island that no one ever tells you about. And then, down a secluded dirt track, Villa l Vaddi appears and, voila, that holiday Valium moment kicks in and my stress simply disappears.
The villa, part of the beautiful Coastline collection of accommodation in Corsica, Majorca and Ibiza, looks like an old stone farmhouse stylishly whittled away into an eclectic yet gorgeously sumptuous space with marble and wood bathrooms and whopping crispy sheeted beds. The kids marvel at the private pool, I marvel at the chic interiors and mountain views and my husband Johnny marvels at the welcome food hamper. The following morning things improve when the sun bursts out and Kat from Coastline arrives with our daily basket of fresh bread and croissants. Coastline holidays are self-catering but not as you know it with its big banana bunch of excellent mix and match extras. A totally flexible British nanny, (book by day (E150), week (E384) or babysitting (E12 an hour), will blow up water wings at the beach with you or bring her box of toys to the villa. A chef (E80) will shop and cook anything be it an amazing picnic to take to the beach, a DIY BBQ box or an A la Carte evening meal. Pamper by the Pool, a beauty service, will rock up with a portable bed to, er, do you by the pool (have the heavenly organic facial, just E45). It’s all too easy to fly and flop. You can do your food shopping via the Coastline website, for delivery, and the team will even organize activities, day trips and restaurants. It’s then you realize why everyone denies knowing anything about the ‘Ile de Beaute’, the Med’s best-kept secret.
Inland it’s beautifully rugged - tree-covered and mountainous (surprisingly there are three winter ski resorts) – with the smell of hot earth and sound of twinkly goat bells filling the air. But it’s the coast that’s so special. Plage de Cala Rossa and San Ciprianu, minutes drive from the villa, are gorgeous inlets of white sand and turquoise sea. Zanzibar in France! At Pinarellu beach, a huge arc of sand peppered with giant weathered rocks hidden behind a haven of pine trees, could be the Seychelles. The beautifully warm shallow water made it perfect for the kids. Even the little café serving fish and local specials was ideal. One down side: the lithe French female bodies. Not a cankle, bingo wing or muffin top for the whole 2km of sand. And I searched. Hard!
For nightlife Porto Vecchio offers low key St Tropez dazzle. Crammed with super yachts and beautiful people, the cobbled old town is buzzing with restaurants, bars and boutiques. Bonifacio, a teetering, ancient clifftop town that looks like it could plop into the ocean at any moment is a wonder. Avoid the crowds by staring up at it on a boat trip to the Lavezzi Isles. Play spot the celeb’s mansion: Princess Caroline of Monaco’s place - ritzy, footballer Michel Plantinni’s villa – glam, the Givenchy house – stylish; before snorkeling around the little coves surrounded by sandstone boulders. It’s the best I’ve done since Fiji. Really.
Quite frankly the thought of going home made me want to pretend I had Swine Flu so I couldn’t travel back. Corsica is as varied, wild and undiscovered, as it is stylishly chi-chi, understatedly luxurious and beautiful. It’s got nature reserves on both land and sea, offers incredible cuisine and wine, safe swimming for kids and all the sea kayaking, horse riding, hiking, boat trips you can shake a chestnut beer at (local and lovely). And if it’s Caribbean-esque beaches you love, then do your carbon footprint a favour, take the two hour hour flight here instead. Just don’t tell anyone I told you.
Jane Bruton, Editor in Chief, Grazia Magazine.