Elba - Our First Circumnavigation

We enjoyed several of Blub's masterpieces decorating metal service boxes on house walls around the island.

Elba, the largest island of the Tuscan Archipelago, was a beautiful, manageable island (only 223 square km.) with sweet towns and well-marked, rough trails.  With the fickle Med wind which changes direction several times daily, we circumnavigated the island in a successful search for safe anchorage.  After our disappointingly quick scoot up the Corsican coast, we slowed down and spent some languid days exploring Elba.  No matter how much time I spend in a place, however, there is usually more to see.  Can't quite figure out why Napoleon didn't just kick up his heels and stay. 

A lighthouse on the west shore gave us a stunning view in the early morning after an all-night sail from Corsica up the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Corsican Channel.

Reminiscent of the Azores with "beaches" of rock enjoyed by many, Elba's sand is hard to find.  It might be hard and lumpy but much more attractive and appealing than the battalions of beach umbrellas found on any stretch of real sand on the Italian mainland.

Portoferraio, the capital city, with citadel and pastel buildings.  Taken from the huge protected bay and anchorage where we spent a few nights.  Napoleon's house was perched near the top looking north toward the Ligurian Sea.

Blub in his blue period.

Napoleon's town mansion.  He also had a country estate a few miles away.  I'm sure not as opulent as what he was used to, but not bad as a punishment.  The Treaty of Fontainebleau in 1814 dethroned him and exiled him to beautiful Elba where he was essentially sovereign.  During his months on the island, he carried out a number of economic and social reforms.

This "parade bed" used while the an entourage moved from one city to another, was the primary feature in the living room and only sitting area in the house.  Rather strange.

Napoleon's sister, Pauline, came to Elba to live with him.  Her lovely cape was an accessory to a very simple white cotton floor length, climate-sensible dress.

Napoleon added his garden to the estate while exiled.  He was allowed a personal guard of 600 men but the island was closely guarded by the French and British navies.  On February 26, 1815 he managed to sneak past his guards, get by an intercepting British ship and return to France.  His exile was ten months long.

Elba was mined extensively on the east coast Piombino Channel.  The abandoned buildings and scarred slopes did not seem to distract the multitudes of bathers on the beach.

We were being closely monitored on our hike.

Our anchorage at Porto Azzuro on the west coast was lovely.  The town was celebrating a music festival.  In the evening, we watched in disbelief as a singer, a guitarist and a pianist performed together from separate floating rafts in the bay.  The piano legs were submerged as were the angels of the guy playing and the vocalist grooved in inches on water.  Luckily, the piano was white and probably didn't show the salt stains.  The groups sound was occasionally distorted by waves.  

Charming Marciano full of artists' boutiques.  

Blub was everywhere.

Our hike took us to a chapel and monastery Napoleon used to frequent to contemplate and meet a lover.  It's peaceful isolation served both purposes, I guess.  These wonderful carvings were on the raw rock walls surrounding a fountain's pool.

A handwritten sign on the chapel door requested that the door remain ajar so a bird nesting on the chandelier inside could fly in and out without worries.

Leaving Elba from the quaint town of Marciano Marina.  We had hiked up to the hillside town on the right through thick woods of chestnut trees.