Evening in Ajaccio

In the evening I ventured out of my lodgings to get dinner and explore a bit of Ajaccio. I walked down towards the citadel and passed the intersection of Cr Napoleon and Cr Grandval. This looking towards the quay and old city. Cr Napoleon is to the left of the photo.

This looking back along Cr Napoleon. My lodging was up the hill behind the palm trees in the centre of the photo.

I found the restaurant that my B&B owner had recommended, serving typical Corsican fare. This is the entree, battered and fried courgettes.

And the main, a ragout of beef with polenta.

A couple of local cheeses to finish off. Well now I could say that I had tried Corsican cuisine.

Palate and curiosity satisfied, I walked down to the waterfront.

It was the time for aperitifs with dinner to follow. Some tourists had started filling up the tables at the restaurant while I was there.

The Plage St François stretching west. To be explored the next day.

I crossed over to the east facing port.

I like that my phone camera takes great night shots.

A panorama of the area.

At this point I switched to my prosumer camera which doesn't attempt to brighten the shot by processing (or at least I didn't command it to) so probably presents a more authentic record.

A similar panorama with this camera.

Walking north, I arrived at the ferry wharf.

A monument to the resistance (in WWII).

A panorama of the area.

The Palais de Congress (Convention Centre).

The Ajaccio Market.

And that was the end of my evening walk. The forecast for the next day was rain so I was half expecting that this might be the only opportunity I had to see Ajaccio.

To Ajaccio by train

I had a leisurely breakfast as the train didn't leave until 1130. There is an earlier train at 0916, but I would still have to wait at inland Ponte Leccia for the connecting train to Ajaccio. The carriages were comfortable.

Corsica's train service is affectionately named U Trinichellu (Little Train) and the locals have defended it against closure several times. Now that it's gaining popularity with tourists, it is less threatened. In fact it was a BBC feature that gave me the idea to tour Corsica by train.

As you can imagine we go through a lot of mountain scenery passing streams like this. Pictures taken out of the windows don't do the landscape justice. It's a trip you have to experience for yourself.

The line is single track most of its length. There are passing loops at some stations. The timetable is adhered to strictly so that delays do not cascade,

There are some high mountains in the middle of the island, and even at the time of year, spring, snow can be seen on some peaks.

There are plateaus of flat land in the middle of the island.

Since I would not arrive in Ajaccio until 1510, a trip of 3h40. I had brought a packed lunch from supplies purchased from a Bastia supermarket the day before.

The line runs alongside the main highway in places. Renting a car would have allowed me to explore more of Corsica but it would have been more expensive and there would have been other hassles. It's a tradeoff.

We arrived in Ajaccio on schedule and I wheeled my suitcase along the main street to my lodgings which unfortunately was halfway up a hill. I'll explore Ajaccio in the evening in the next post.

Evening in Bastia

In the evening I returned to the old port, with the goal of walking as far as the waterfront path extended. From maps I knew that the path ended after the shore highway emerged from a tunnel under the citadel. Bastia is quite a compact city. It's possible to walk everywhere on foot. For the suburbs there are urban train services, but that I would leave until my return a week hence.

As the sun was low in the sky parts of the scene are overexposed in this panorama.

The church is more visible in this one.

Walking on.

From the timetables this would be the incoming ferry from Livorno about to dock at the ferry terminal further north. This is the other company I would be returning to Livorno with in a week's time.

A small lighthouse is at the mouth of the old port.

It's possible to walk on top of the seawall to the lighthouse.

The path hugs the cliff and goes around the headland. I saw many pigeon nests in the cliff face. They looked quite contented compared to urban pigeons who have to build nests out of reach of humans.

Emerging from the tunnel under the citadel. There are the nationalist graffiti I mentioned earlier.

Here there is a patch of grassy shore. There are houses and hotels stretching south along the highway.

Pedestrians were not allowed in the highway tunnel so I retraced my steps to the other side of the headland where I took an elevator to the upper level of the citadel. This is the view from there.

There were restaurants and cafes there. Since it was dusk, some customers were enjoying aperitifs.

I emerged where I had entered the citadel and walked down the Romieu Steps in the morning.

Returning to the centre along the main street.

For dinner I found a pizza store that did mostly takeaway and delivery business but also had a small seating area. Ordering was self-service using a computer terminal. No table service, you can see that they delivered it in a box instead of a plate, and the cutlery was disposable. So obviously no need to tip.

Best of all, the size was medium as I didn't feel able to eat a large pizza. But I found room for a tiramisu dessert if I recall.

Morning in Bastia

So here I was, in Bastia, on Corsica. Everything seemed more orderly in France, public places were free of rubbish, vehicles were not positioned haphazardly by the side of the street. It was soothing.

The first thing I did after breakfast was to buy a Pass Liberta from the train station. This would allow me to travel for 7 days on the interurban network which formed a wonky Y shaped network between Bastia in the north-east, Calvi in the west, and Ajaccio in the south west. It would take me through the mountainous innards of the island

If you're thinking that Pass Liberta sounds more Italian than French, you're right. Corsica was settled by people from Genoa and later taken over by France. More on that later.

But to back up a bit, here's the breakfast that was served to my room, there being no dining room in the hotel. It wasn't mentioned as an inclusion on the booking site so I assumed I would be billed for it, and indeed I was at checkout. But I didn't really want to go looking for a cafe in the morning, I'd have to get dressed while still hungry.

I walked up all the way up the main street of Bastia, Bd Paoli, and this ended at the Cour d'Appel. I wondered if any of the Corsican nationalists were tried here. I could see slogans such as Libertà per Stefanu daubed on walls. This is a holiday blog so I won't go into the politics, just to mention that many Corsicans want more autonomy from mainland France, but far fewer want independence. It's an ongoing issue.

Turning left, I headed for the old citadel, Palais des Gouverneurs. This looking back on the Bd Auguste Gaudin.

From the top of the ramparts there is a view of the old port with the ferry at the pier.

Going down the Romieu Stairs there is a wind rose naming Mediterranean winds. The names are the same in many Romance languages.

The marina.

Walking towards the centre of the port which has the Église Saint Jean-Baptiste in a back street.

Reaching the other side of the old port.

A few minutes more I was on the esplanade looking at the ferry pier. The Moby ferry is the one that had brought me here the evening before.

Looking back at the old town. This esplanade is lined with restaurants.

The esplanade ends in a bridge to the Place St Nicolas, the main square, over the north-south coastal highway emerging from a tunnel.

There is a statue of Napoleon Bonaparte here. Remember that he was Corsican, from Ajaccio.

Here's a closer shot. The statue depicts him as a Roman emperor. It was commissioned by his sister Elisa for her home in Lucca, Tuscany, completed in 1813, but kept in the artist Bertolini's studio until it was finally acquired and installed by Bastia in 1853. 

For lunch I found a place serving decent Thai cuisine. Their approximation to Pad Thai was fairly good.

I'll put the evening photos in the next post as there are many and the light is different.