Note: This is a travel journal of the day 10 of our trip to France. Click here to view the photo collection (63 pictures) for these particular days. Or follow this tag for the related blog entries.
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Corsica – Jun 30, 2010 (Wednesday)
I wish we could have stayed in Corsica for longer. Corsica is a beautiful French island. For those who are interested in the history, you may refer to the journal of the previous day.
On day two, we headed south to Bonifacio. Our route for your reference (and for our future reference) is as follows: Ajaccio (L), Bonifacio (B), Porto-Vecchio (C), L’Ospedale (D), Zonza (E), Quenza (F), Serra-di-Scopamène (G), Zicavo (H), Bains-de-Guitera (I), Corrano (J), and Santa-Maria-Siché.
Reaching Bonifacio
Corsica is not a small island. We traveled about 122 km from where we stayed – Ajaccio – to the southern-most part of Corsica – Bonifacio. Bonifacio is sited on a limstone and granite cliff peninsula. There is a harbor at the foot of the cliffs and a citadel on top of the Old Town. The citadel was built by the conquering Genoese at the end of the 12 century. There is a mini-train service that takes travelers from the harbor to the top of the hill, where the citadel is located. We opted to walk instead. We had lunch in one of the restaurants along the harbor. The area was lively; the sun was warm; what a day to wrap up our holiday in France.
Overlooking Bonifacio
If you have the energy to walk, I would highly recommend you to take a slow walk to be up close and personal with the cliffs and the sea. In around the citadel, the town has an ancient feel. We have spent most part of the day touring the Bonifacio and the Old Town. By the time we reached the next destination, it was 5.30 pm.
The Lake Near Porto-Vecchio
Near Porto-Vecchio, we have found an area that was so serene that we wish we could have spent more time there. There was a lake, a mountain, and the time was getting late, there was a bit of drizzle. The ground was soft near the water. We had to watch out on where we put our feet (you know how it is like when you are so busy taking pictures). There was no one else but the two of us. Who would abandon a trunk by the lake? We have no idea. We lingered as long as we could and we continued to travel inland, through the various small towns on our way back to Ajaccio.
Traveling Inland
Traveling inland has it fun and challenges. The roads are windy. We made quite a few overtaking moves because time was running out. We were stopped by the cows. And we were chased by the pigs. I am not sure why pigs like to hump onto our wheels (or do they like to munch the rubber?) There were miles and miles of green hills. And the sky was blue. We could travel for a long distance without seeing another soul on the road.
In our final stop, we have arrived at Santa-Maria-Siché. It is a small and quiet town, which looks similar to most of the towns you see in Europe. As I was taking a photo of a church (see below), one local mechanic came to me and (I presume) asked what picture was I taking. Corsica is (now) a French island but this local spoke in Italian. I showed him the picture of the church taking from my camera. Maybe he has seen this building all his life, he did not seem impressed. Instead, he took out his mobile phone and showed me some of the sunset photos he took in around the area. We had some good laughs – even though we did not have a clue on what each of us was speaking.
Corsica is a charming island. And Corsica was the last stop of our France 2010 holiday.
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PS. Thank your for reading our journal and feel free to drop a comment or two. You may wish to view our photo collection for day 11 too.