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!

Île de Beauté

After a rather busy time with plenty of work and visitors, we were quite keen to spend a week in Corsica. Our first visit to the "beautiful isle" was three years ago, and at the time we had promised ourselves that another visit was definitely needed to fully appreciate this beautiful place.

It just so happened that our good friends Julie and Aurelien were going to Corsica at the same time as us, and were in fact even taking the same ferry as us. We arrived at Bastia quite late on Sunday the 14th of July, which is of course national day in France. So after checking in at our hotel, we hastily made our way to find a nice restaurant from where to check out the fireworks (we were hoping for normal fireworks rather than the more "explosive" kind sometimes exercised by the rather active Corsican nationalists).

And no complaints at all about the fireworks, they were pretty much as impressive as anything we've seen on the Cote d'Azur. Nothing bad to say about the food either - we had a very tasty Corsican platter, covered with local specialities. The service was rather amazingly slow - but we were quite OK with that since it gave Julie and Aurelien the time to join us (they joined us in Bastia, having taken their stuff over to their flat a bit South of Bastia).

After a good night's sleep at the hotel, we decided to spend the morning exploring Bastia, before heading to our rented flat over near St-Florent. Our walk took us through the picturesque (if rather touristy) old port, and up towards the Citadel, which overlooks Bastia. It's a pretty nice area to walk around, with its shady cobble-stone streets. We stopped for a coffee and an ice cream at one of the squares, and then enjoyed the stunning views towards Bastia for a while. The citadel bit done, we headed back to find our car, and hit the road westwards.

We stopped for lunch at Patrimonio, just a few kilometers from our destination - a decent little eatery recommended in our guide book. We also had a quick walk around the village, checking out the old village church and the famous Menhir of Patrimonio. The preparations for "Les Nuits de Guitar de Patrimonio" (a music festival) were well underway...

After a couple of wrong turns, we eventually found our little apartment, in what  our landlord Manu had referred to as "a piece of paradise". And actually it's not much of an exaggeration. The setting is superb - peaceful, with a fantastic view over the nearby mountains. The beach is just a couple hundred metres away (with turquoise, clear water...). The apartment itself is small, simple but charming, with a nice garden (with some chickens and exotic birds for extra entertainment value). Our host Rene, who seems to know everybody within a 20km radius, was a real character, genuinely friendly. So, we were most happy with our choice of accommodation. We spent the rest of the day chilling out, enjoying a rather stunning sunset at our "almost private" beach... Oh, bliss!

For the next day, Rene had managed to convince us to join his private tour to the "Desert des Agriates". The Agriates is a truly paradise-like piece of coastline, located between St-Florent and Ile Rousse, which thanks to its protected status has escaped completely from the clutches of property developers. Plenty of absolutely stunning beaches to be found. The only way to access those beaches are by foot (count several hours of hiking), 4x4, or boat. We chose the boat option, along with a family who was also staying at Rene's place. The boat tour took in all of the stunning Agriates coastline, including the legendary Saleccia beach (where the film "The Longest Day" was shot - hard to imagine a beach in Corsica posing as Normandy!). We stopped for a picnic lunch at a stunning little beach, where Rene left us for a couple of hours of chilling out. We spent most of that time snorkeling...  Beauuutilful!

For the evening, we were meeting up with Julie and Aurelien for dinner at a rather charming little village called Venzolasca, south of Bastia up in the foothills (quite a drive up there, along rather windy mountain roads). After a quick walk around the picturesque, we made our way to the restaurant, a little gem of a place called U Fragnu. I love the concept - it's basically a farmhouse that offers a set menu (so no choice when it comes to dishes), all made of local produce. It's filling, tasty and friendly. Just my kind of place... ;)

Three days done, 4 days to go at Corsica. So far, more than so good! ;-)

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…

Discovering Corsica

We’ve spent over three years on the Cote d’Azur now, and have managed to see quite lot of this very beautiful part of the world. One place we’ve not had the opportunity to visit yet, though, is Corsica. Corsica has a reputation of being a very beautiful place indeed (the French like to call l it “L'Île de Beauté”). Some people also have less positive things to say about Corsica – some members of the nationalist movement give the island a bit of a bad name with their bombings etc. Some even say that Corsicans, on the whole, are not the friendliest lot around… So, for this year’s eastern holidays, we decided it was time for us to find out for ourselves whether the clichés hold true…

After a rather hectic morning of packing and cleaning up the house, we embarked on our journey on a very sunny Saturday afternoon, taking the ferry from Nice to Ajaccio (the capital of Corsica). The sea voyager was a rather pleasant one, since the weather really looked promising. We arrived very late, so didn’t really have time to explore Ajaccio that evening. We spent Sunday morning exploring the place, starting with the Napoleon monument, which was just a couple of blocks away from our hotel. Napoleon is, I suppose, the most famous Corsican around (I suppose some fanatical Tino Rossi fans might disagree…); and he was born in Ajaccio. We then headed down to the town centre for a quick walk around. Turns out there isn’t that much to see in Ajaccio, actually. The old town is pleasant enough, but just covers a few blocks. An there is, of course, the imposing citadel, guarding the port of Ajaccio. After a visit to the local market in the port, where we stocked up on supplies for our trip, we headed out into the Ajaccian hinterland, into the Gravona valley.

Not far away from Ajaccio, we were met by some very pretty scenery indeed. We quickly noticed that the landscapes are quite different from those found on the Cote d’Azur. The hills just look a lot greener here. The fact that Corsica has (at least up until now) largely been spared of the property development boom which has given a rather ugly concrete façade to parts of the Riviera, also helps… We started off by visiting what is apparently a typical Corsican village, Bocognano. The villages struck as quite different from the Provencal ones we’re used to. The Corsican ones are kind of “less cute”, and can appear a bit run down. But they also seem like “real places”, with a lot of character and local colour. After a quick picnic lunch, we headed off to another charming little village called Vero. After a nice hike in the pretty surrounding hills, we decided to leave the Gravona valley and find our lodgings for the rest of our stay. After a very scenic drive along the Corsican coastline, we finally arrived in Serra di Ferro, where we checked into the apartment we’d rented for the week.

We started Monday by another excursion into the Corsican interior, doing a mini-road trip which took in a couple of more pretty Corsican villages – with the highlight being Olmeto. From there, we drove down to Sartène, which is known as the “most Corsican of Corsican towns”. Its history is filled with stories of vendetta (another well-documented “phenomenon” Corsica is famous for), and traditions hold firm here, apparently… It’s certainly quite an atmospheric place, with a sort of dour medieval feel to it (again, less flowery and pretty than some of the Provencal towns we’ve visited). We decided it would be the perfect place to try some traditional Corsican cuisine. We ended up in a place that was no doubt touristy, but still managed to feel somehow authentic (including the less-than enthusiastic service…). I had Corsican charcuterie as a starter, and wild boar with mashed potatoes as a main course, washed down with some nice local red wine. The cuisine can’t get much more Corsican than that ;-). After the filling meal, we joined Youcef and Warda, friends from the mainland who happened to be in Corsica at the same time, for a coffee on the main square. After a walk around Sartène with them, we headed together down to Propriano. Propriano is one of the more touristy places in Corsica (let’s not forget about that aspect of Corsica, it does get overrun by tourists during the summer…), without much cultural interest. But the port is nice enough for a stroll around, and the crepes we had weren’t bad either ;-).

On Tuesday, we decided to stay local, since the area surrounding our little village is very pretty as well. We started the day with a brisk walk down to the local “resort”, Porto Pollo. I put quotation marks, since Porto Pollo is a pretty sleepy place for a tourist resort – and all the better for it. After a stroll across the nearly deserted beach, we found ourselves in the port, where we decided to have lunch. The place we chose wasn’t the cheapest in town, no doubt, but the freshly caught fish they served was absolutely delicious, and the desert wasn’t bad either… And the white wine we had was a real delight as well, just perfect for the sunny weather we were blessed with. After the rather long lunch, we carried on walking along the stunning coastline, until we found a nice little private beach, where we decided to spend the rest of the afternoon, just relaxing. As you may have guessed, we were seriously falling for the beauty of Corsica…