We Go to Corsica, Part II

This is the second part of the blog on our trip to Corsica. If you missed the first part, you can find it here!

 

The Eagle's Nest, the very top of the town of Corte

Mountains

After several days of hunting for obscure beaches, our interests—and our itinerary—turned to the mountains. We were going to Corte, a town in the center of Corsica—which is to say, in the middle of the mountains. The road was wide and well paved, but slow. At least there wasn’t much traffic!

 

The territory (a reminder!). Mostly mountains...

Corte is located at the head of the long mountain spine of Corsica, well to the north, and centered between the east and west coasts. It’s the largest town in the mountains, and, not surprisingly, the center of the independence movement in the mid-1700s (it’s a long, hard climb up those steep trails!).

Our first view of Corte, from the road.

Just another view from the upper town.

The drive was interminable, and once we arrived we were ready for some down time. Still, we wanted to sample a bit of the town. Our lodgings were on the outskirts, so we drove in, and were amazed at the views of the city, perched high on its hill. 

A view out over the city of Corte, with a view of the mountains.

A view out the other way over the city, with a view of the, ah, other mountains.

Views of the city.

The next morning we were up early and ready to explore. We learned from our excursion the night before which streets NOT to take, and soon found a parking spot near the Syndicat d'Initiative (another name for the Office de Tourisme, found in every French village and the place we always start our visits, to get a map and local information). Needless to say, Corte is steep and rugged, yet endlessly cute, with a picturesque view around every corner.  And from the upper town there are endless panoramas over the surrounding hills and valleys.

Going down to downtown.

The town fountain, downtown.

We’d booked only one night in Corte. It was enough to get an overview of the town, but I would have liked another full day to explore more. As it was, we had to get on the road. But first, we wanted to drive into the Restonica Valley, a renowned hiking area at the end of a winding road that ran for some 15 km (10 miles). It took an hour! The road started out ok, but as it twisted its way up into the higher reaches of the valley it got narrower and narrower—and the drop-off into the river steeper and steeper—until meeting another car became a white-knuckle affair. We’d pull over as far as we could, and cross our fingers that we wouldn’t hear the scrape of sheet metal as we squeezed past each other. 

End of the trail in Restonica Valley (we drove 15 km on that?

Eventually we came to the end of the road, a huge parking lot with an attendant collecting 6€. Lots of cars there, but very few people. Out hiking, I suppose. We continued along the paved road for a bit, but hiking on pavement wasn’t what we’d come for! The scenery was fantastic; unfortunately, we had limited time: we needed to return to Corte, then get on down to Ajaccio (the capital city) for our next night. And it was not going to be easy driving. So we said a regretful farewell to Restonica and climbed back into the car. We’ll come back again, and stay for longer!

 

More views of Restonica Valley (all of Corsica seemed to be hazy).

The main road to Ajaccio was in fine shape, recently paved and wide. But winding! It was slow going (we hit 50 MPH several times!), and the car’s manual transmission meant lots and lots of clutching and shifting. The scenery was great, the mountains incredible; we made a number of stops to better appreciate the views. 

Seen (scene?) from a highway overlook. This former fortress earned a nasty reputation during the French Revolution (1790s) when it was used as a prison. 

Different scene from the same overlook. 

Eventually, about three hours later, we arrived at the outskirts of the city, and encountered one of the most incredible traffic jams I’ve ever been stuck in. Only one lane each way (no LA nightmare!), but barely moving. It must have taken 45 minutes to make that last 5 km.

We spent the next day on foot, exploring the city, which gave us a car-free day. But there were places up the coast we wanted to see. There was still much to explore, so the next day we took off for a day trip, leaving our coveted curb-side parking spot. Our destination was Porto, a town on the coast 40 km north of Ajaccio. 40 km? Well, by road it’s 80 km, and takes around two hours (averaging 25 MPH!).Along the way we stopped in the town of Cargése, and visited the fabled red rocks of Les Calanques de Piana.

The harbor at Porto.

The mountain village of Piana.

 

The fabled red rocks of Les Calanques de Piana

The fabulous heart rock (heart hole-in-the-rock?) in the Calanques de Piana.

Les Roches Rouges, a very classic hotel in the village of Piana, 

It was worth the trip. We spent four (five? six?) hours in the car, and saw some amazing country: rock formations, mountain peaks, white beaches with blue water. But the driving was pretty intense! As we approached Ajaccio we took a different route from the other day to avoid the traffic jams, at the expense of having to negotiate tight, winding roads. I was plenty burned out by the time we got back to our neighborhood, but we did manage to find another parking spot along the curb, a nice ending to a great day!

Église de l'Assomption in Cargèse (yet another mountainous town)

Dueling churches: the Roman Catholic Église de l'Assomption, in the left corner, and the Greek Orthodox Église Saint-Spyridon de Cargèse on the right.

Well, I think Saint-Spyridon deserves it's own photo!

The view of the harbor at Ajaccio from our balcony. 

              Ajaccio

We spent three nights in Ajaccio, which I think was one too many; in retrospect, I’d trade one night for an extra one in Corte. Ajaccio, in spite of being the major city of Corsica, didn’t hold much attraction for us. It has a busy port, lots of sea food restaurants, and the Fresch Museum, reportedly “one of France's finest collections of Italian old masters” (from Wikipedia). And, of course, "Casa Buonaparte," the house where Napoleon Bonaparte was born (also a museum). But we avoided doing indoor things, paying attention to our “risk budget.”

Where we stayed. That's our balcony, on the right.

Statue of Napoleon, Ajaccio's favorite son, dressed as Cesar.

Perhaps our most interesting experience was the house where we were staying. It was located on a hillside overlooking the harbor, with a long (long!) staircase leading down (down!) into the town. Our bedroom was one of several in the house; there were at least two guestrooms, plus the owner’s rooms. It made for a busy bathroom in the morning! But the house was pretty fabulous, decorated—stuffed—with the owner’s eclectic collections. As we lay in bed in the darkness Paula joked about how it was like a night in the museum; would the collections come alive during the night?  (Spoiler alert: no, they didn’t.)

 

Who needs a museum, when you're staying here?!

A few miles west of the city is a narrow peninsula and a series of islets trailing out to sea, called the Sanguinaires. From photos it looked extraordinary. And clearly, the time to go was sunset! We had a car, but I was not keen on driving after our stressful arrival, particularly after dark. Paula got on it, and quickly found a solution: there was a public bus, the last one returning after dark. Perfect! We went.

 

The Genovese tower at Les Sanguinaires.

Paula hikes around the peninsula at Les Sanginaires.

The most prominent feature of the area is the Genovese tower, one of reportedly 510 along the coast. (The towers were the first line in the defenses that kept the Genovese in power for 500 years.) More recently there have been towers and lights mounted on the islands further seaward, making for a very picturesque scene against the setting sun.

The islets of Sanginaires at sunset.

Hiking in the setting sun.

Since we had an early flight out, our last night was spent close to the airport. We arrived at our lodgings early in the afternoon, giving us some time to explore the coast and find one last beach. And again, soft white sand, soft warm turquoise water. Love it!

 

The last beach, on our last day! (Note the Genovese tower in the distance.)

Fortunately the drive to the airport was short, because it was very dark and there were flashes of lighting in the distance. We found outdoor tables at the small terminal and settled in to watch the sunrise. The weather was stormy, but not cold. Eventually we all filed onto the plane as the clouds roiled overhead. Most passengers got on board dry, but the last few were soaked! I’ve never felt so warm and content on a plane as those first few minutes when the storm broke. Rainwater was sluicing down the window as the poor baggage handler, in his yellow slicker, loaded the last (and now wet!) bags into the hold.

 

Sunrise at the airport, before the storm.

Storm clouds gathering at the airport.

Loading bags in the rain. Glad we're inside!!

After a short delay on the ground, and the sight of a fantastic full rainbow, we were flying among towering puffy white clouds. A short hour later we were coming in low over the coast near Montpellier, with an interesting view of the bizarre buildings of La Grande-Motte, a nearby coastal town.

Storm's over! And a fantastic rainbow!

 

Just minutes from the Montpellier airport, the strange buildings of La Grande-Motte.

Not long after we were walking the freshly-washed streets of Montpellier on a sun-drenched Sunday morning, the air clean and fresh from the recent storm. But the river hinted at the recent past: brown and turbulent instead of its normal flat calm, evidence of a massive rainfall up in the mountains.

 It was good to be back home!

A note about travel in the time of COVID: These days, every time we step outside our home we put ourselves at risk. It puts a damper on travel! We think of having a risk budget, similar to a money budget: spend some here, and save some there. Getting on a plane is risky, so we minimize risk elsewhere. On this trip we avoided being inside except at our lodgings. (Staying in the same place every night is best—every new place is a new opportunity for viruses to be lurking—but that may not be practical.) Winter time and colder weather will change things!

We go to Corsica (Part I)

Palombaggia beach. Best beach in Europe?

It’s been a while since our last blog; we have much to talk about! Big news on the administrative front: our paperwork for our second year-long visa has been submitted, and accepted. We’ve received a paper, essentially a receipt for our docs, which gives us permission to stay for six months. Sometime during that period we will receive a residency visa, our Carte de Séjour, good until October of 2021. If we choose to stay for a third year, things should get easier… (or so they say!) 

We’ve also signed up for another year in the apartment where we’ve been living since May (see our blog on that move here). And, we’ve applied for our own utility accounts, electric and Internet. And, we have received our Carte de Vitale, giving us access to the excellent French health care system! So we have a sense of settling in, of being rooted at bit. 

And that brings us to the more recent news: we finally went on a trip! Spent a week in Corsica! After cancelling several excursions due to weather (hot!), the on-going pandemic, and just stuff that came up, we’re happy to have finally gotten away. 

 

The territory. Yellow stars show where we were.

         Corsica: It’s got mountainous! (and beaches…)

There are two major islands off Italy’s west coast; Corsica is the smaller and more northern, and is known for being the birthplace of Napoléon Bonaparte. As expected, it has a long and involved history; for most of the modern era it’s been under the control of the Genovese. Pisa took it over a few times, but Genoa always beat them back. There was an independence movement in the mid-1700s; France secretly bought the island from Genoa; Corsica was aligned with the United Kingdom for a few years. But after the French Revolution (1790’s), France ended up with control of the island. 

While it looks small on the map, there is a lot of territory to cover, and it became clear from our research that for our one week it would be better to focus on either the north, or the south. We picked the south, and so flew into FIgiari, a small airport which some describe as an airfield in a cow pasture. Well, it is small… but no cows! 

Corsica has two main features: beautiful blue water, and steep, sparsely-populated mountains. Not surprisingly, things to do on Corsica center around boating (warm turquoise waters!), swimming (incredible white-sand beaches!), and hiking (rugged mountain trails!). Oh, and motorcycling, if you’re into laying it around steep winding mountain roads. 

The citadel, the old town, seen from the harbor.

Paula did her usual excellent job of booking accommodations: two days here, a day there, three days in Ajaccio, and one night close to the airport for our early-morning flight back to Montpellier. Our first B&B offered dinner for an extra charge. We normally prefer not to eat where we stay, but (fortunately!) made an exception this time. 

The owners’ son had been a professional chef, but gave up the tough life and long hours to serve just a few meals per night, cooking for his parents’ guests. Our second night there we joined with a couple of the other guests for this special meal. And my, was it amazing! It was a full-on five-course meal, with an apéritif before, wine during, and the digestif after. All for 25 euros each. We were up quite late chatting with our fellow lodgers. And in the end, we all agreed that it was good we only had a few feet to walk to get to our beds!

Looking down from the old town on the harbor.

Our first stop after arriving was Bonifacio, the major city in the south. “Major city” is a bit misleading: it is a large city in the south, but the topography prevents it from growing much. So it’s small, with a fine natural harbor. It was quite crowded the day we were there, in mid-September. Like everywhere in Corsica, it must really be a mad house in August! (And July. And June…).

 

Bonifacio is on the circuit for the rich and famous with their mega-yachts. There's also red boats!

A "composed" panorama of the cliffs stretching away from Bonifacio.

         Beaches

Corsica claims some of the best beaches in Europe. Having grown up on the beaches of California I’m not overly drawn to beachs, but we did spend our first couple of days tracking down some really wonderful spots. They weren’t easy to get to, but that didn’t seem to stop anybody from going!

 

On our first full day in Corsica (Monday), we signed up for a boat ride out of Bonifacio.  It was your standard tour boat stuff, but it gave us a view from the water of the coast a few miles on either side of the town. The steep cliffs on which the old town is built are quite fantastic, and have to be seen from the water to be fully appreciated.

 

Houses in Bonifacio clinging to the cliffs as they've done for centuries'. 

The staircase of King Aragon, down leading to a well. It's now open to the public, but we declined to descend the 187 0ne-foot steps!

Back in the car after our boat tour we were ready to look for some of the fabled beaches of Corsica. One long, broad anchorage we visited on the boat had a hidden beach at the far end, and from the water we could see a narrow, steep road running up into the hills. Access to that beach, surely! A few minutes with the map and we were headed out of town, looking for an inconspicuous turnoff from the main road. 

A small cove. Looks like the Caribbean!

 

A boat anchored in the cove with our "secret" beach.

It wasn’t hard to find, and ten white-knuckle minutes later we were at the bottom of the steep, straight, and very narrow strip of concrete that served as a road. We tucked the car tightly up against the bank, like the other cars there, and made the short walk to the beach. 

We made it! There's a few more boats in the cove than before.

The "secret" beach. We had our picnic on the left.

The cove was now quite full of boats, many, no doubt, stopping for lunch. We ate our own picnic lunch, then eased into the warm, pristine water. It was lovely! Really, really lovely. The sand was soft underfoot, and the water buoyant. We played around for a bit, and then slowly made our way back to the car. After all, there were many more beaches to sample!

 

The road back. Ya call that a road? You call that a parking lot?

Our favorite beach was Tonnara Beach. It was easy to get to, had a good café, and I liked the very coarse sand. The near-by islets, backed by layers of steep mountains, is incredibly picturesque. Since it was near to where we were staying for the first couple of days, and pretty low-key, we went there several times.

Tonnara beach; view from the café.

The beach itself.

More than just a beach! There's a LOT of coast here...

Palombaggia beach.

A beach mentioned as “one of the best in Europe” seemed worth looking for. And we did, indeed, look! Access was via a winding mountain road (which describes most of the roads on Corsica). After a few false starts down some winding unpaved roads (hell no! I’m not driving on this!) we finally got there. Or, at least, into the hills above the beach. We knew we were close enough when we saw the cars lining the sides of the road. 

 

That's our car, head of the line on the left. Two hours later... and this is mid-September!

Scene at the bottom. So glad we parked on top!

Great, soft white sand on this beach, and lots of room!

But we found a shady spot under the pines.

Once we got the car tucked up against the cliff and mostly off the roadway we had a bit of a walk, down and down a steep road—clogged with cars returning from the overflowing parking at the bottom. The beach itself was pretty fantastic, though: long, long crescents of white sand in both directions, bordered with pine trees on the land side, and that beautiful turquoise water on the other. We found a shady spot up under the pines to lay out our stuff, then slowly immersed ourselves in that warm, embracing water. Again, soft sand underfoot, and limpid clear water. Only this time there were a lot more people. Oh, it wasn’t crowded; this was a very long beach! But it was mid-September; I’ll bet a month ago it was far more populated (and the task of finding a place to park much more difficult!).

 

Palombaggia beach from the road.

 

So that was our first few days on Corsica. In the next part of this blog we'll talk about our time driving through the mountains, visiting the city of Corte, and the days we spent in Ajaccio, the capital city.

 

Another "best beach," further north on the west coast. We didn't visit this one, just drove by...

How We Spent Our Summer in France, Part 2

A misty summer morning at the bird refuge near Adge...

Birthdays. Why do so many people have birthdays in the summer? I suppose we could examine what was happening nine months earlier and make up something about—oh, I don’t know, long winter nights? But then again, maybe it’s just an impression: statistically, one-quarter of all birthdays should fall in the summer (and, of course, one quarter should fall in the fall…) 

Anyway, we just had a couple of birthdays, one of which was mine (which may be a clue as to why I find the summer full of birthdays!) To celebrate we planned an outing, a day trip to some nearby towns. We traveled with another expat American couple, Mary and Mark, who’ve been in France for a few years, and are now more-or-less permanently settled in Montpellier. Mark also has a summer birthday; in fact, his is just a few days after mine. So this trip was a celebration for both of us.

First issue was a rental car. All the majors (Hertz, Avis…) were out. This is August, after all, the month when the French go on vacation. And these days, private cars seem safer than public transport, so demand is high. It’s clear we were about a month late in our planning efforts. However, Paula, ever persistent, found a car through OuiCar, a platform for individuals to rent their private cars to other individuals. Effectively, the Airbnb of car rentals. We’d used OuiCar once previously, just before the virus lockdown in mid-March. (Here’s the blog I wrote about that trip, to Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert.) There wasn’t much selection at this late date, but we did get a car for the two days we had planned.

              Agde

First stop was a town we’d been interested in for a time, Agde. In our last blog we wrote about our trip to Séte, a town at the eastern end of a long étang, or lagoon. At the opposite end of the étang, ending the 10 km of Séte’s sandy beach, is Agde. In the last couple of decades there has been a lot of development around Agde, including a massive Naturist (read: nudist) colony with accommodations for 50,000 (yes, fifty thousand naked people!)

The cathedral of Agde in the distance, along an unused canal.

Our interest, however, lay on the other side of town, and in another century: the unique “round lock” that marks the end (almost) of the Canal du Midi. The round lock has three gates, to match three different water levels (well, any two out of three anyway). One lock connects to the canal, one leads to the river (the Hérault river, from which the name of our département is taken), and the third heads towards the long, narrow Etang du Thau, which connects Agde and Séte. (So canal boats with goods bound for other Mediterranean ports, after transiting the Canal du Midi, would pass through this final lock before entering the étang on their way to the port of Séte, where their cargo would be loaded onto more sea-worthy craft to travel the Med.)

Looking up the Canal du Midi from the Round Lock.

Boats waiting for the lock to fill: the one boat has just entered the lock at the bottom, the other is preparing to leave. The third gate is on the right. The lock dates to the 17th century; the lamp post is somewhat more modern...

We made the long, slow drive through traffic-congested Agde, crossed the river, and then got very confused as to which one-way road went where. Finally, though, we found free parking at the train station, and walked the last 10 minutes to the lock. We were able to get off the road and walk along a no-longer-used canal, which was far more pleasant than walking (or driving!) on the road. Then, since it was now lunch time, and parking was free and unlimited at the station, we walked back along the canal, re-crossed the river into town, and found an excellent restaurant with tables on the river bank.

Mary, Mark, and Paula awaiting lunch in Agde, along the Hérault River

  

             Pézenas

After a very pleasant lunch we piled back in the car and drove 30 minutes north to anther ancient town, Pézenas (no Naturist Village here through). All the parking lots were full, of course, this being mid-day in August, but we did find a spot just out of town in a large field shaded by rack-mounted solar panels (an Eco-parking, as it were).

Paula crosses the bridge into the old town of Pézenas

Very touristy!

Pézenas is a cute, very touristy town. Its narrow 15^th-century streets are lined with shops selling local products, antiques and other old stuff, and all manner of things of interest to tourists (of course!). It’s quite an interesting place—we’d been here a few years back—but today the streets were crammed with people, and when a passerby sneezed and left it hanging in the air we decided that a less-crowded part of the old city would suit us just fine.

The Michelin Man, former spokesperson for the Michelin Tire Co, is apparently now retired and running a tourist shop in Pezenas...

...with his steel-sculpture buddy, Dog.

 It’s a fine place to visit and we will be back in a month or so when the crowds have thinned out (I want to see that door museum!). As it was, we made our way to a café for some refreshment before heading back to Montpellier. Over all, a very satisfying day!

 

Pezenas is full of sights (sites??) like this ancient doorway.

Paula and Mark admire the violet shutters (or volets violets in French!)

             Alphonsia Maria - La Péniche

The next day was my birthday proper (11 August, if you’re keeping track), and Paula had worked out a special evening for us, a night on a boat! This boat was a péniche, a 100 ft.-long canal boat once used to transport bulk goods throughout Europe. Since commercial shipping is now much cheaper by truck and train, péniches are out of work.  Those that avoided the scrap pile are now either private residences, or some variant of a floating hotel. The Alphonsia Maria is one of the latter.

The Alphonisa Maria, our home for the night.

The owners live on board, with four cabins for guests, and a large space up on deck for eating, relaxing, and chatting. Why, it even has a (small) swimming pool! It is permanently moored along a canal just opposite the ancient Cathédrale de Maguelone. Getting there is not easy: we could take a tram, a bus, and then walk for a half-hour. Or, drive. So, we kept the car overnight and pulled up alongside the Alphonsia Maria the next afternoon.

The floating bridge that crosses the canal,with Cathédrale de Maguelone in the background.

 After being shown our cabin—with private bath, and air conditioning—we sat up on deck for a while, conversing with the other guests and admiring the view. It was all pretty flat, but across the canal was a sort of island where the Cathédrale de Maguelone was located. And, the étangs are full of les flamants rose: pink flamingos! This time of year they’re mostly just standing around on one leg, but during their migrations the sky is filled with them. After a bit we went for a walk, crossing the canal on the clever floating pedestrian bridge: it's hinged in the middle, and is driven open and closed by a pair of outboard motors to allow boats to pass.

The Alphonisa Maria from across the canal, with the private yacht Black Pearl (clever name, eh?).

The tourist train heading for the beach.

 

At the far end of the bridge was the stop for a little white tourist train. We climbed aboard and headed for the beach, a few minutes away. We weren’t really interested in the beach, so when the train was ready to return, so were we. This time we got off to visit the Cathédrale. We’d been here before, a few years ago, which was a good thing because the cathedral had just closed. We wandered around a bit, took in the view, and hiked back to the train stop, arriving just in time to catch it on its way back to the canal (saving us about five minutes of walking!).

The beach near Cathédrale de Maguelone.

A great place for water fowl; here's a Snowy Egret near the cathedral.

 

We had made reservations for dinner in town, and by the time we’d gotten back to the péniche it was time to leave for dinner. In this case, “town” was Villeneuve-lès-Maguelone, a village a few kilometres away.

It may be but a village, but it's got some great restaurants!

Back on the boat as the evening closes in...

After an excellent meal we were back at the boat, and joined the other guests on deck for a glass of wine as the sun went down. (Yeah, 9PM and the sun was just going down!) There wasn’t any real sunset, because the fog had rolled in (or crept in, or whatever fog does). Night fell slowly, it got darker and darker but not cold (ah, summer in the South of France!). Eventually we said our good nights, and headed down to our cabin, grateful for the air conditioner. It wasn’t too hot, but the fog made the warm air incredibly humid. The night would have been much less pleasant without that AC!

Stillness on the etang as night falls....

The next morning we were up late, but still managed to beat everyone else to breakfast. It was the typical French breakfast: coffee, croissants, jam… and such jam! Turns out it is made by a lady in nearby Villeneuve-lès-Maguelone, and decidedly better than even the best commercial jams. (We later found the lady and her small workshop, and were able to buy a few jars. She doesn’t sell it anywhere else—she has very limited capacity, on her kitchen stove—so we were glad to have found her!)

Breakfast was certainly adequate!!

When we got up in the morning there was activity on the shore, next to the boat. A stage had been set up, along with a long row of tables. It seems this is the spot for a regular weekly summer festival, with music, and, of course, food and wine. The festival took place in the evening, but preparations were already getting started. And we thought, ah, if only our night on the boat were tonight, instead of last night! The stage was right opposite the deck! How cool would it be to watch the music, and the people coming and going, from the deck of “our” boat! They were, of course, booked up for that night. Ah well, perhaps next year…

 

Fog obscures the sunset over the etang

 

             Breaking news…

We have submitted our paperwork for our second one-year visa! This is a big deal because reservations for these appointments are very difficult to get. While we will need to wait a couple more months to know the final outcome, it is a near-certainty that we will get our Carte de Séjour, permission to stay for another year. Yah!