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| Mega Smerelda in Ajaccio harbour |
For the first part of the kids' school break, we decided to head to Corsica. We took the overnight ferry from Toulon to Ajaccio, then directly from there to the far south end of the island. The ferries are very much like cruise ships, with cabins to spend the night in. The one pictured here (which we took home) had several restaurants. It also had a dance bar, piano bar, pool, and spa - all but the last were closed, presumably because it's the off-season and the ferry is only 1/2 full.
Our first destination was Bonifacio, founded in 828 when Corsica was part of Tuscany (the Corsican language derives from Tuscan). However, almost all the visible fortifications and landmarks are from the Genoese period (from 1284) or the French period (from 1769). Unfortunately, a lot of restoration work still needs to be done - some is currently being carried out on the two Genoese churches in the Haute Ville (so they were closed, as was Torrione, the modern keep in the centre of the fortifications). In fact, the tourist map encourages people to "pick up an interesting souvenir when walking the old walls"! We did walk along the perimeter walls, even though the day became quite windy and cool. We were further disappointed because the restored Bastion de l'étendard of the citadel was also closed, as was the Escalier du Roi d'Aragon, the cliffside stairway from the Mediterranean to the fort.
The highlight of the day was the nature walk along the sheltered cliffs north of the citadel. This far south (~300 km south of the Riviera), the land was turning green and the rosemary was blooming; the air was scented with cedar. Looking south you can see Sardinia, and the cliffs have all kinds of weird and wonderful shapes, because the sandstone is easily worn by the surf and storms. There is also access to the small Plage de Sutta-Rocca. After our touring, we had a dinner from a little hole-in-the-wall pizza place (open specially for the school break!).
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