La Belle Corse

The beautiful island of Corsica lies in the Mediterranean Sea, southeast of the French mainland, north of Sardinia, west of Italy. One of the 27 regions of France, it is designated as a collectivité territoriale by law, enjoying greater powers than other regions, which its small population of 322,000 proudly embraces.

114 miles long, 52 miles wide at its widest, it is essentially all rugged mountains that tumble down almost to the coastline.

When you fly into Ajaccio, on the southern end of the island, you seem to just "pop out" from the mountains and swoop down over the Bay of Ajaccio to land at Napoleon Bonaparte Airport (so named because Ajaccio is the birthplace of Napoleon I).

All the way across the Bay of Ajaccio (which is as big as San Francisco Bay), the little peninsula of Isolella houses a small beachfront community of both local Corsicans and loyal mainland visitors.

Included among the latter are dear friends of ours who have owned this beautiful villa here for over 30 years and spend a good part of their time down here. We were certainly happy to once again be joining them for a few days!

Since our last visit, the already lovely terrace has doubled in size, with sunny and shady corners, pretty potted plants, cosy chaise-longues and umbrellas.

All of which makes it very tempting to spend all day moving slowly from one corner to the other, following or sheltering from the warm sunshine!

Luckily, we know better!  Literally two steps across the road, following a little footpath, you find yourself facing this marvel of aquamarine water, granite rocks, bobbing sailboats...

 ...and, in the other direction, this seemingly endless stretch of soft golden sand, surprisingly unpopulated on this early June morning.

Since our last visit, a few new shops have opened up, inlcuding this elegant bakery, open daily...

...offering mouth watering rows of tarts and "petits gateaux"...

...and an impressive array of "flutes", baguettes and other breads, all baked fresh and available seven days a week! (You will not find that kind of service so easily in Paris...)

Another new feature for us, is this mobile fish stand that sets up shop twice a week outside a nearby market, bringing the morning's "catch" to the neighborhood...

Keeping the fish fresh in the refrigerated truck, and protecting those on the counter with ice and large umbrellas, the lovely couple were doing a brisk business when we arrived.

After careful deliberation, we chose a whole Saint Pierre fish (John Dory in the States) for dinner that night, and five or six generous handfuls of the langoustines (crayfish) for lunch the next day. Our mouths began watering at the prospect!

Corsica has many food specialities, including a great selection of goat and sheep cheeses...

...the most famous being "Brocciu". Produced from a mix of ewe's milk and whey, it's considered the national dish of the island. When it's really fresh, it's almost like eating cream, perfect with ripe, sweet strawberries!

Not to be outdone, Corsican sausage comes in a close second, with a wide variety of sizes, shapes and flavors.

As well as lounging on the terrace and the beach every day, we took a drive late one afternoon up into the mountains, to look for a 14th century Génois bridge that Alain had found recently.

Once you leave the coast, you are almost immediately in the mountains that cover the skyline in every direction, sheltering small towns that cling to the edges. Settlements have been here since the earliest arrivals, providing much more safety and protection from invading forces (both human and meteorogical) than the coastal communities.

We took the road toward Cauro, then headed on in the direction of Bastelica and Tolla. The road climbed up and up, got twistier and twistier, switchback after switchback, the forest closing in on all sides.

Suddenly, Alain braked, backed up, parked off the road and pointed to the sign tucked into the side: "Pont Génois à 300 ml"! Most people would have driven by without noticing.

We headed down the path, following our intrepid leader...

...admiring the pretty wildflowers along the way...

...this one reminded me of a wild hyacanth...

...and this sweet rock rose was blooming all over the place!

 We kept on walking on this quiet little trail, with ferns, bracken and trees around us, and always more mountains in the distance.

Then suddenly, we turned a corner, went down a slope, and there it was, the Pont Génois!

 The worn, rough stones beckoned and we walked over to the other side and down below to really see it.

The perfect arch, stretching over a lovely creek, and mirrored in the still waters. It was so quiet you could hear your breath.

The Italian State of Genoa took over power in Corsica in the 13th century, when they defeated the Pisans. During the centuries that followed, the island became a pawn in the ongoing battles between France and Spain, with the Genoese ceding power, then retaking power, wars and battles without end. But throughout it all, the Génois continued building bridges like this one to connect the towns and villages of the mountain regions. Finally, in the 18th century, exhausted, the Republic of Genoa sold the island to France. Interestingly, the Corsican rebels who then fought the French bitterly, received aid from Britain (!) who, for a brief period in the 19th century, held sovereignty over the island, before it was finally returned to the restored French Monarchy.

We spent some time marvelling at this simple style and construction that has endured all these centuries amid all those conflicts, still sturdily and proudly holding its place.

A brightly colored lizard kept us company for a while!

The two old friends climbed out on the rocks, looking for  (and spotting) several small trout...

...whilst I went back and forth over the top of the arch, listening for the footsteps of all those who had crossed before, for the rattle of wagons, the clip-clop of donkeys and horses, the shouts of soldiers, the laughter of children. It was, truly, a magical place.

Later that evening, on the beautiful terrace of the Villa Aloha, we enjoyed a scrumptious farewell dinner, cooked by Alain, and raised our glasses to another memorable sojourn on the "Île de Beauté": La Belle Corse!

À bientôt!

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