Blogs from Corsica, France, Europe - page 5

It's very hot in the apartment, so I spend most of the night trying to sleep outside on a couch on the terrace. If I did this back home I would have been eaten alive by a swarm of marauding mosquitoes, but apparently not so here. The taxi turns up; we're very relieved. I thought that we'd have the airport to ourselves at 5.30am, but it's crawling with people. Madrid airport must have a lot of runways. If the departure board is to be believed it seems that sixteen different flights will be leaving at exactly 7.05am. Security is intense. I try to walk through a scanner holding my boarding pass but I'm told I need to put it in a plastic tray. It looks very lonely. I worry that the rubber strips at the entrance ... read more

June trip all planned. 1 week to South of France, ferry to Corsica. 2 weeks round the island, ferry back to Toulon then slowly home. Then the French started playing silly wotsits and striking and burning tyres all round France and especially the areas we needed to be to get to Corsica. Plan A Corsica put on hold. Ferry rescheduled for September when hopefully the strikers will have got bored and gone back to work. Plan B. Let's go to Tuscany in Italy via Switzerland which will require only minimal driving through France and therefore no problem with lack of fuel. Packed and ready in good time but found it difficult to motivate myself as had developed a rapidly worsening cough and throat. Got up to leave first thing on the Wednesday, unable to swallow, cold, ... read more

Porto et surtout la route pour s’y rendre La Corse s’étend sur un peu plus de 8700km carrés déservie par un système routier des plus déroutant(sans jeu de mots mes petits loustics)Elle comporte plus 1050 km de côtes baignées par la Méditerannée et quelques 1500 km(selon mes relevés totographiques toujours sujet à caution)de routes transversales qui chevauchent les montagnes du centre.En supposant,et c’est là que mon petit calcul devient terrifiant,que ces routes tortueuses comportent une courbe à tous les 50 m,il y en aurait 50,000 sur les routes de Corse.Mais l’épreuve ne s’arréte pas là,encore faut-il les négocier ces courbes en partagant la route avec les corses et çà c’est tout un défi.Controler sa voiture et sa vitesse c’est une chose mais contrôler un corse au volant c’en est une autre.Partant du principe qu’ils ne ralentissent ... read more

Bastia Peu de choses à dire sur Bastia sinon que ce fut le lieu où nous dégustâmes nos premières charcuteries, corse il va sans dire et des huitres monumentales de la taille d’un foie de veau. Faut vraiment un gosier de pélican pour avaler un pareil molusque d’un seul coup, ce que le serveur nous fit comprendre en nous présentant l’assiette accompagnée d’un couteau et d’une fourchette. Une petite visite du vieux port, d’un reste de fortification et un peu de flânage dans les petites ruelles bordées de cafés de restaurants et de boutiques où je me suis procuré un couteau corse, le couteau suisse étant malencontreusement restè au Mexique et nous quittâmes Bastia pour la banlieu de Corte soit Porto à peine 38 km à l’ouest mais 3 heures de lacets plus loin.... read more

Geo: 41.9186, 8.73688Our tour today was described as the Highlights of Ajaccio, which is in Corsica. We were coached out to what I can only describe as a car park with a view of some towers in the distance. Everyone was underwhelmed. Along the way we passed lots of fancy tombs in which all the local families were buried. This would have been an innteresting place to visit. However we drove by these to stop at Napolean's Cave, a rock under which he would sit when he got tired of being with his 11 brothers and sisters and a monument to him by the side of this which commemorated all the battles he fought whether he lost or won same. Finally we got off the coach in the town and passed by the monument to Napolean ... read more