Corsica - suite et fin

For Wednesday, the plan was to head out to what is probably the most famous town in Corsica, Bonifacio, located right on the Southern tip of the Island. The drive down to Bonifacio is pretty stunning, going past Sartene, and taking in some beautiful mountain and coastal scenery. A few photo stops later, we finally arrived.

Actually, we drove past Bonifacio to take in the view of the city from the east. And what a sight for sore eyes Bonifacio is, with its old town precariously perched on the cliff, overlooking the turquoise Mediterranean. I would say that it’s without doubt the most stunningly sited city in France. Having spent a while wandering around the cliffs and enjoying the view, we headed down to explore the town itself.

We started off with a decent enough lunch, considering we had it in one of the tourist trap restaurants on the main drag. Actually, one of the clichés about Corsica I find somewhat unwarranted is that it would be more expensive than mainland France. To me it seems cheaper at least than the Cote d’Azur (maybe not the best reference, though…). Our stomachs filled, we headed off to explore the old town. The town itself perhaps failed to live up to the promise of the stunning first impression one gets when seeing the town from afar, but it’s still well worth a visit. It does somewhat suffer from its popularity – I can only imagine what a nightmare it must be during the summer months… Our brisk walk took in the main sights (Napoleons house, the citadel, the sailor’s cemetery, a couple of nice churches), but I think what impressed us the most were again the stunning views over the coastline and the sheer audaciousness which must’ve been involved in constructing the town.

After our visit, we sped up towards the North, where we had a rendez-vous with Youcef and Warda at Santa Giulia beach (located just south of one of Portovecchio). We spent a pleasant hour or so on the beach, enjoying the sunshine (and in my case, a beer) and chatting away. I felt tempted to jump in the sea for a swim, but alas had not brought my swimming trunks. Eventually, as the sun started to set, we set off back home, very pleased indeed with the day…

The next day, we decided it was finally time for a proper trek. After all, Corsica is supposed to be one of the best places on the planet for that kind of thing (one of the most famous hiking trails in France, the GR20, is located here). We decided upon something a bit less ambitious than the GR20; a walk around the Capu Muru peninsula (the same peninsula where our apartment complex was located, so just down the road).And what a fantastic day of hiking we had. The weather was perfect; the sky was blue, and there was a light breeze to keep us refreshed. The hike initially took us to one of the famous Genovan watchtowers which dot the Corsican coastline (they formed a kind of signalling system in the olden days, to warn about approaching invaders).

After taking in the beautiful views from there, we carried on to the tip of Capu Muru, taking in some more stunning coastal scenery on the way… After a quick visit to the chapel we found there, we made the trek back to our starting point. All in all, a very pleasant way to spend 6 hours. I washed off the sweat with a dip in the sea at our local beach – VERY refreshing (= cold). Mathilde took the wise choice, I think, and read a book on the beach. We finished off the day watching the sunset from our balcony, drinking some Corsican wine, and with a nice dinner…

We got up on Friday, full of energy. Our week in Corsica was nearing its end, as we were taking the ferry back to Nice the next day. So wanting to waste no time, we checked out, and hit the road. For our last day, we wanted to acquaint ourselves with the Corsican mountains a bit. The mountains are where Corsicans have traditionally lived, to protect themselves from foreign invaders, I suppose.

Our drive initially took us to Sainte-Lucie-de-Tallano, yet another pretty Corsican mountain village, famous for its olive oil. After getting a sandwich done, we carried on to one of the main sights in this part of Corsica; Cuccuruzzu. It’s actually a rather large archeological site, with the castle for which Cuccuruzzu is famous for dating back to the Bronze Age. The site is actually setup as a two hour hike with audio guide, so it makes for a nice combination of outdoors activity and history lesson. It was all good fun, even if the audio guide did take the Corsican clichés a bit far; with the omni-present Corsican chant, and thick Corsican accents (or so Mathilde told me, obviously being a bit more familiar with Corsican clichés than me ;-).

A couple of pretty mountain villages later, we reached the other top sight in the region; the Col de Bavella, from where there are some nice views towards the Aiguilles (= needles) de Bavella. It was a great scenic spot, just a pity about the clouds blocking the view. (having said that, they also created a bit of an atmosphere…).

By then, we were thirsting for a drink, so decided to follow the advice of our trusty Guide de Routard, which recommended having a drink or two at the Hotel de la Poste in Aullène. We rather quickly found the hotel, only to find the place closed, much to our disappointment. As were all the other bars in town, unfortunately. However, on our way back to our car, a crafty-looking old geezer stopped us, starting to ask us strange questions (like where we were from, how we liked his village etc.). Turned out quickly that the chap was none other than the owner of the Hotel de la Poste, and that he was more than happy for us to have a drink on his terrace. Clearly glad to have some company, he then proceeded to tell us his life’s story (including how he had walked the GR20 in 5 days – a feat that normally takes more like 15 days, I might add) and that of his old hotel (an old coaching inn, the oldest one in Corsica, apparently). Most of this was translated to me by Mathilde, by the way, since I only understood about one word in three, so thick was his accent. He also enthusiastically showed us his self-authored local tourist guide – “the most accurate guide there is”, apparently. All in all, a truly authentic Corsican experience, then, to end our trip ;-). He even gave us a bottle of Rose as a souvenir (and naturally refused payments for our drinks). A heart-warming encounter, one could say. Should you ever find yourself in Corsica, I can honestly recommend a visit!

An hour’s drive later, we were back in the town of our arrival, Ajaccio, at the same hotel. We finished the evening, and Corsican holiday, with a great dinner in a nice restaurant in the old town.

So, how to sum up Corsica, then? As you may have guessed, we really loved the place. It’s certainly one of the prettiest places in Europe, and as of yet, relatively undeveloped. It also has an undeniably Corsican character (just look at all the traffic signs with the French names crossed over), to me it had a different feel to mainland Europe. We didn’t find it expensive either, nor unfriendly (especially in light of our encounter in Aullène). So, I can definitely recommend a visit – just don’t go in the summer. I can only imagine the traffic jams and crowds…