Part 2

Sunday 1 May 2016

Last night we crossed the sea from from Marseille to Bastia with the ferry Pascal Paoli, operated by  Corsica Linea. At 7 o'clock we get up and have breakfast in the on-board restaurant. The breakfast is reasonably adequate. At 8 o'clock we dock in Bastia's new port. Disembarking is much like boarding in Marseille: again not very comfortable . From the main deck we have to walk 3 floors down and then through a narrow door onto a gangway towards the quay. We manage to squeeze into the crowded bus which drives us to the port building. From the terminal is a 5 minute walk to the apartment, which we booked through Airbnb. We pick up the key at the bakery around the corner. Our host Sébastien - who we will not meet - arranged this beforehand. The apartment is fine. It is located on the 4th floor but there is a small elevator. We take a rest and then go shopping for groceries at the nearby Spar supermarket. Today it is not only a Sunday but also May 1. Hence, there is not much open. After the shopping we go out to explore the city. We walk down the rue Bonaparte through the low-lying district Terravecchia to the Vieux Port. A nice small harbor filled with boats and  yachts and old houses around it. We walk uphill to the Terra Nova, the hilltop fortified district built by the French after their take over of Corsica from the Genoese. Here there are a few interesting churches. We walk back to the Vieux Port and have lunch Chez Huguette. It's a lovely meal with Spaghetti a la boutargue and grilled swordfish. We walk back to the apartment. In the afternoon we go into town again. Which now seems all but dead. Many restaurants have closed or have closed the kitchen. We drink a cocktail at the Old Port and eventually find a place to eat at Chez Meme at the quay. Reasonable food, but the service is a bit sloppy.

Weather: cloudy. Max 19 degrees around noon. In the afternoon it starts to rain with occasional thunderstorms. It cools down by the sea winds. 14 degrees

Monday 2 May 2016

Tour of Cap Corse: 133 km

After breakfast in our

apartment, we go for coffee at the bakery "Le Blé d'or" around the corner . From there we walk to the Europcar car rental office a block away. We get to choose from a Peugeot 2008 or 5008. An easy choice. We drive out of town towards St Florent, a small port town on the north coast. Here we drink coffee and watch the citadel. The church is not accessible because of a funeral mass. We continue for a tour around Cap Corse, the northern peninsula of Corsica. We drive clockwise and thus on the mountain side of the coastal road. The road winds along the mountain walls and are speed is low. Fifty years ago most villageson the Cap Corse could only be reached by sea. After an hour we get to Nonza. A small village with a church and a castle ruin, from where we have a nice view of the rugged coast. We continue while it starts to rain. After another hour or so we go off the road to a restaurant at a beach that is completely deserted. The restaurant is - to our surprise -  in business, though we are the only customers far and wide. After the copious lunch we resume our journey to  Centauri-Port. Centauri seems to be glued to the mountain's side , while down at the coast line is a fishing port, Centauri Port. The history of the fishing village dates back to the first century AD when the Romans settled here. From here we cut through the cap over to the East side and then drive south to Bastia. This side has wider roads, which are also much less winding. We drive now along the vineyards of the Cap Corse appellation. The east side is sunnier and less exposed to wind and rain. In 30 minutes we drive from Centauri to Bastia. In the evening we stay in the apartment and eat a sandwich.

Weather: Rain, 14 degrees. Bastia 19 degrees

Tuesday 3 May 2016

Bastia - Calvi: 112 km, 1:52 hrs

Erik gets us fresh bread at the bakery and we have breakfast in the apartment. Then it's time to pack up and go. We drive in a southerly direction out of Bastia and then west through the mountains to Calvi on the north eastern coast. We arrive at around 12 noon at Hostellerie de l'Abbaye, in a  former church of a 16th century franciscan monastery . The room is spacious and the hotel comfortable . We take a light lunch at the Cafe Marly. Later in the afternoon we go for a drink at one of the many terraces at the marina. There is a small cruise ship from Malta in port. From the terrace we have a nice view of the port and the citadel that lords over Calvi. This citadel was built in the 15th century by the Genoese and was heavily shelled in 1794 by a British fleet commanded by Admiral Nelson. When the cruise ships leaves its berth Calvi becomes much quieter. The tourist season has not really started yet and most terraces are virtually empty. We go back to the hotel. Later we go out again for a pizza at restaurant Le Chalut overlooking the port. Then we walk back to the hotel.

Weather: Sunny 20⁰C

Wednesday 4 May 2016

We go to the port for coffee. After coffee we walk to the Citadel. That's a tough climb. In the middle of the citadel is a church that was the cathedral of Calvi until 1790 and it is dedicated to John the Baptist. Here, the cross is kept, which is thought to have averted the Turkish siege in 1555 . A ruin of a house a little further down is claimed to be the birthplace of Christopher Columbus. There is virtually no historical evidence for this. Columbus is, as far as we know, from Genoa. The Citadel also houses an army barracks, which is still used.

In the afternoon we go by car to Sant'Antonino, a mountain village 12km from Calvi. It is known as one of the most beautiful villages of France. It is  quite nicely situated atop a mountain and the views are breathtaking. Before you enter the village you have to park in the paid parking lot, which costs 2 euros. The narrow streets and alleys of Sant'Antonino meander around up to the hilltop . We have lunch at La Voûte with a nice view of the surrounding area. After lunch we  look around in Sant'Antonino before we drive to Pigna. That village lies a few kilometers away and is a reconstructed village of old houses that were moved here. Also a paid parking lot for 2 euros. Pigna has small streets, alleys and stairs, but the only sign of life is in the restaurants on the edge of the village. The village was built by moving old historic homes and buildings to this location. It is like an open air museum. With a beautiful view, it must be said. We have a drink in the warm sunshine before we drive back again to Calvi.
In the evening we walk along the Quai Landry along the marina. We drink a aperitif and sit down for dinner at La table de Sabine. This is the only restaurant along the quay with a class appeal and that translates into an excellent menu and dishes. The service is excellent. We enjoy the fish and wine.

Weather: Sun. 21⁰

Donderdag 5 mei 2016

Calvi - Porto: 80km, 2,5 hrs

Back home in Netherlands it is  Liberation Day now, but in France, of course, it is not. However, this year it coincides with Ascension Day and it is a public holiday for everyone. After coffee we are off to Porto driving along the coastal road. It starts at the citadel of Calvi. The road winds feverishly along the mountain ridges and the road surface varies in quality. Sometimes it is very very narrow. The views of the sea are stunning. The road is very quiet, but the curves make for very low speeds. Villages, we are very few and far between. After an hour so we leave the D81B for the much wider and less tortuous D81. We drink a cup of coffee in Galeria. From there it goes that much faster towards Porto. The road leads us back up and over a ridge, where many cycling fans make a stopover. Then it goes down to Partinello. From there it's not far to our destination Porto, the port of the village of Ota on the banks of the river Porto. Everything here revolves around tourism. When we arrive it is very busy with day trippers who come to make a boat trip. There are  many hotels and restaurants. We are booked at Hotel La Belvedere. The room is not large, but well equipped and has a balcony overlooking the harbor and the sea. What else do you want?

We take a rest, followed by a snack at the port. That turns out to be a disappointment. The cheesburger is not even lukewarm and rather raw. We need some cash for the next days, but nearest ATM is almost  a kilometer's walk away. But it is a nice one. Most tourists leave Porto at the end of the afternoon and it gets a lot quieter. At night we eat in the restaurant at La Belvedere, which has an even better view than our room has and a chic look. It is a separate business from the hotel. We take the  21 euros tasting menu which suits us very well: fish soup, fillet of red mullet and a dessert.

Around 9 o'clock it is getting much cooler on the terrace and it is time to go back to the room.

Weather: Sun and 22⁰

vrijdag 6 mei 2016

We have breakfast in the hotel lobby . It's simple, but most of what we like is  there. Afterwards we drink coffee nearby at Hotel Monterosso. After coffee we drive out of Porto, cross the bridge  towards the mountains of the Calanches or Calanc, the red rocks, which the region is so well known for. They are 300 million years old and emerged during collision of tectonic plates when Corsica rose above the water surface. We begin a hike at "la Tête du chien" trail head, called the "Chemin de Château-fort". The terrain is difficult and too heavy. After 15 minutes we give up. The total hike would have been  half an hour one way . We continue to Piana, a village at the end of the Calanches. A much quieter town than Porto. We drink coffee here and look around a bit before we drive back again. Along the way we take pictures of the beautiful cliffs and the bay. Here and there the road is so narrow that we must drive backwards into a passing bay to let traffic through. Traffic is getting gradually busier, especially with motorcycles and coaches.

Back in Porto we eat at Hotel Monterosso (mussels) and buy tickets for a boat trip along the Calanches with Corse Adrénaline.

In the afternoon we drive along the Gorges de Spelunca, a canyon between Ota and Evisa. A beautiful gorge, along the length of  the D84 road. On the way see we stray cows, goats and pigs at the road side and in the middle of it. In Evisa we take a soft drink and then drive back.

At 17.30 we report to François Xavier, fisherman's son from Piana, owner of Corse Adrenaline and of a 12-person speed boat. We join his boat trip on the bay to see the Calanches from the water. François is a cheerful guide who talks a lot and is proud of his heritage. He takes us into a few caves, which is also very nice. We have dressed up a bit warmer because at  it cools down quite a bit in the evening and the boat get to very high speeds at times.

Back in Porto  we eat again at Hotel Monte Rosso.

Weather: sunny 20⁰C

Saturday 7 May 2016

We parked the car across the river (it is free there) and so we have to cross via the steep footbridge. We drive  towards Evisa, again along the Spelunca gorge, the same road we drove yesterday. The pigs, cows and goats still roam  along the road side and sometimes also on the road itself. We drive to Corte, the central town of Corsica. The landscape is beautiful. Canyons, mountains and valleys. We stop occasionally for photos. We do make slow progress. It is only 75 km, but it takes more than three hours. Around noon we arrive in Corte and we watch out for the right road leading up the Restonica valley. After 2 km we arrive at Hotel Arena Le Refuge. We get a large room with balcony. The bed is not so great. The hotel has no restaurant, so we have to go back 500 meters  to the Auberge Restonica for lunch. It does not look very inviting, but once we have taken that hurdle, it appears to be very busy. We have to wait longer than usual for our main course and we take a platter with meats to kill time. The dishes are disappointing. The meat is a bit tough, but the taste is okay.

In the afternoon we explore Corte. After the island had liberated itself from the Genoese It was for a short time the seat of the independent Corsican government led by Pacuale Paoli (1755-1769) in the middle of the 18th century. Paoli is being honored all over Corsica, but especially here. Paoli founded a university with free education for all (he belonged to the enlightenment). He carried out a sharp separation of powers, which earned him much admiration by, for example, Rousseau and Voltaire, as enlightened leader of a relatively backward people. The current university from 1986 bears his name. The Genoese  in desperation sold the island to the French, who conquered it shortly after.  Paoli's armed resistance lost to the French in 1769 and Paoli took refuge in London, never to return. The long shopping street Course Paoli ends at the Place Paoli, where the big statue of the state leader takes center stage. The buildings around the square are showing signs of neglect, but the bars and restaurants are lively enough. Here the climb begins to the Hauteville (upper town), with its narrow streets and squares. Above that is the citadel, where the Musée de la Corse is located, dedicated to Corsican history and culture.

We have a drink at the Cours Paoli and later in the evening we have dinner at an Italian restaurant U Valentinu on the square.

Weather: cloudy, 15⁰C

Sunday 8 May 2016

We have breakfast in the breakfast room. The terrace outside beside the fast flowing stream Restonica is way too cold. After breakfast we drive into Corte and drink coffee at the Café de la Place. Then it's time for our walk of today. We go for the Travignano Valley. The walk starts behind the Museum of Corsica and goes up steadily, while the views are getting better the further we go. After an hour or so we return to Corte. We drive back to the hotel to freshen up. Next we go to Venaco, where the annual cheese fair is being held. It is very busy and many farmers here sell their artisan cheeses, honey, ham, vinegar, etc. We get a taste of nougat and much more. We eat some typical Corsican snacks, such as donuts and then go back to Corte. We have a drink in Hauteville and then go back to the hotel.

At night we eat at U Museu, a restaurant at the foot of the citadel. We take the 23 euro menu and it tastes fine. Also, the wine tastes good.

Weather: cloudy, 15⁰C

Monday 9 May 2016

Corte - Ajaccio: 82km, 2.5 hrs

Today we leave for Ajaccio along the N193. The road is much wider than the roads we have had so far, but it is winding nonetheless while brave the Corsican mountains. We are going higher and higher until we are atop Vizzavone Mountain. Then the road descends constantly towards Ajaccio. We are now in the department Corse du Sud (2A) and no longer in Haute Corse (2B). It is also warmer and sunnier. We get to the hotel Bonaparte around noon, in the center of Ajaccio. The room is available and we can also use the hotel parking. We are off to a luncheon address, which we find in the rue Cardinal Fesch.

In the afternoon we explore the city. The birth house of Napoleon is unfortunately closed on Mondays. Reportedly, there is nothing to find in there that has a connection to the Bonaparte family. The town hall has a Salon Napoléonien on the second floor. It holds some (replicas) of state portraits of the Bonapartes and other parafenalia around the emperor and his family. Later in the afternoon we visit the Musee Fesch. Fesch was an uncle of Napoleon's and bishop of Lyons. In this capacity  he managed to build up large collection of masters from Italy (Bruneleschi, Titian, Pisano etc), Spain and the Netherlands. Many of the works were looted by French troops from occupied countries. Fesch left  some 1000 pieces to  the city after he died which forms the basis of the current collection. There is also a temporary exhibition about photography and the role this new invention played in the publicity surrounding Napoleon III.

The Ajacccio Cathedral  dating from the 16th century is not big or particularly beautiful, but has the font in which the future emperor, was  baptized in 1771 just 23 months old. We drink a pastis in bar Grandval, where an large photo collection hangs on the wall with historical photos of Ajaccio. In the evening we eat at restaurant Da Mama, near the hotel. Corsican cuisine. Not expensive, but nice in a courtyard around a rubber tree.

Weather: sunny 25⁰C

Tuesday 10 May 2016

Ajaccio - Filitosa: 61km, 1.5 hrs

We drink coffee on the course Bonaparte before we head to Filitosa. This is a site of prehistoric standing stones, nestled in the Corsican countryside. It is almost one and a half hour's drive from Ajaccio, although it is only 60 km. The road to Filitosa is very twisty and turny, going through small villages and mountains and valleys. We arrive there around half past twelve. The standing stones themselves are very interesting. The history of the site is about 8000 years ago and was discovered in the 1940s by a local farmer when was plowing his farm land. There are several groups of menhirs with faces, swords and daggers on them. Probably the creators have tried to portray their enemies to scare them off. They in turn destroyed them and used the menhirs to build their sanctuaries: the Thoreen towers. Another theory is that they played some role  in a fertility cult.

Filitosa - Bonifacio: 83km, hrs

We have a cold drink in the heat of up to 29 degrees. We continue to Bonifacio. We have lunch in Propriano. After lunch we continue towards Bonifacio. The road widens and becomes straighter, but the sky gets overcast and the wind picks up enormously. When we arrive in Bonifacio, we fill up the car before we drive up a road up to the Upper Town. We drive past the upper town and at the end of the rock just before the cemetery is the Hotel SantaTeresa, where we will be staying. After a break we explore the upper town. Many small narrow streets and steps and a few nice churches make up this district which is completely walled and has a couple of solid gates. It is very crowded with tourists, including two cruise ships. The Aragonese stairs lead  via 187 from the upper city down to a lookout in the rocks. Legend has it that the staircase was built in one day, commissioned by the Aragonese king Alphonse V on the occasion of his conquest of the city. It is more likely that the staircase  was designed by Franciscan monks much earlier, in order to reach a water source. We have a drink in the town and then go back to the hotel. In front of the hotel is the Cimetiere Marin, the sailors cemetery. This walled cemetery is full of family mausoleums in a variety of styles. It looks like a city borough with narrow streets. At night we eat at the Cantina Doria. Simple Corsican cuisine. Not memorable, but doable. I get Cannelloni bruccio and Erik spaghetti with aubergines. The weahter has become even stormier. Through the storm we walk back to the hotel. The streets of the upper town are deserted now.

Weather: sunny 29⁰. Bonifacio cloudy and 19⁰C.

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