More Corsican exploration!

We continued our exploration of this beautiful island by visiting one of the top sights in Northern Corsica - Cap Corse. Cap Corse is a peninsula just north of Bastia, circumvented by a 110 km road, offering rather stunning views over this stunning, rugged coastline... We started on the West side of the penninsula, making our way northwards. Our first stop was the stunningly located Nonza, perched on its dramatic clifftop, overlooking the amazing coastline. We hiked up to the "Paoline tower" (named after the Corsican statesman Pascal Paoli), from where we had predictably good views over the village and the surround scenery (including a rather odd sight - a black beach, the colour being due to the asbestos deposited there from a nearby mine. Unsurprisingly, no swimmers in sight!).

We continued our tour around the capte, which took longer than expected, due to the rather poorly maintained roads (a lot of the time, only about half of the road was paved, leading to rather slow progress...). Our next stop was at the eastern side of the Cape, Macinaggio, a rather modern port without much of interest. After a quick ice cream, we headed up to a secluded beach just north of town, from where we hiked up the coastal path for a bit. Oh, what bliss! Stunning coastal scenery, deserted beaches with crystal-clear, turquoise waters. A pity our schedule didn't allow more than a short hike (and a couple of swims to combat the heat...). A brief visit at the tiny, picturesque fishing port Erbalunga brought an end to our Cap Corse tour...

The next day, we were rather surprised, and disappointed, to be confronted by bad weather - as Corsica was struck by storms and thunder. So we took the opportunity to just chill out at our flat, not a bad thing actually... During the afternoon, the weather cleared up, so we decided to head out to explore the Nebbio. The Nebbio is a picturesque region located just a few kilometres inland from Saint-Florent, blessed with plenty of charming little villages. We checked out a few of them - we particularly liked Olmeta and Murato. The Romanesque Saint-Michel church at Murato in particular was sublime... (I would say it's almost the perfect medieval church, if there is such a thing: simple, graceful and at a stunning site). We finished off the day in style by having a nice fish dinner at Saint-Florent.

On Friday - our second last day in Corsica - we decided to head westwards, to Ile Rousse. The drive, as often in Corsica, was just great - we were treated to some fantastic views over the Agriates (the gorgeous strip of coastline we'd visited by boat a few days earlier). After some rather horrific traffic jams, we finally managed to park at Ile Rousse, we ended up quite far away from the town centre (Ile Rousse is one of the transport hubs of Corsica, with its ferry connection, which probably explains the traffic jams...).


Ile Rousse is a medium sized town by Corsican standards (which makes it pretty small) - a nice little place, if a little bit overrun by tourists. We started our tour by checking out the main site in town - L'île de la Pietra. This beautiful ochre-coloured "island" (now joined to the mainland by a road - hence making it a peninsula) has some nice little beaches, and also a Genoan tower and a lighthouse. And the views over town and the surrounding coastline are predictably impressive... After a nice lunch in town, we headed back to our apartment to prepare for the evening.

The plan was to head for dinner to a nice-looking place me and Mathilde had spotted in nearby Patrimonio, with Julie and Aurelien. After a nice aperitif at our place, we headed off to sate our appetites. The place was pretty busy, due to the yearly guitar festival taking place (the list of bands was quite impressive considering Patrimonio is a village with a couple of hundred inhabitants: Patti Smith & M were making an appearance, amongst others...). Since the restaurant we'd picked was next to the venue, it was packed, hence the speed of the service left quite a bit to be desired. No complaints about the beer and the burgers though - and we had a very nice night out - that's the most important thing of course!

The next day was sadly our last day in Corsica - all good things come to an end, as they say. We started off the day (after saying our tearful goodbyes to our kind host Rene and his wife) at Patrimonio again, where we procured a few bottles of local wine (and actually got to attend a rehearsal for the concert taking place later that night). We then made our way to Bastia, where we were staying the night before catching the ferry back to Nice the next morning.

We started off our visit by checking out the famous Santa Scala at the

Monserato church. This staircase  - or rather the original in Rome
(according to the locals the one in Bastia is the only other Santa Scala in the world, although wikipedia seems to list several others ;-) ) was apparently walked by Jesus before his crucifixion... We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the streets and port of Bastia. It's a pretty nice little town all in all - and actually surprisingly untouristy compared to for example Ile Rousse. 

We finished our Corsican holiday with a nice meal at La Taverne, a nice little eatery with a terrace overlooking the sea, with Julie and Aurelien. I chose the Gargantua menu, naturally. A bit of a mistake as it turned out - I knew I was in trouble when the starter included 4 cooked eggs!). Much to my shame (and the shock of my co-voyagers),  I ended up skipping the cheese platter and even part of my desert, after even struggling with my XXL-sized steak. Shocking end to a perfect holiday! ;-)

As you've probably figured out, we really enjoyed our short but most restful stay at this beautiful Mediterranean island. It's quite surprising that such a beautiful island has managed to stay so authentic and untouched by tourists. I think a third visit is on the cards!