Corse-du-Sud
by Russell Grant
I've never been to Corsica nor ever had the inclination but as an Aquarian I DO love adventure and trying new things, as does my partner Doug (Aries) and in our many years together we have never been to the island. I love lakes and mountains and Doug is an Italiophile at heart.
We land at bijou Figari airport in the far south of the island. I like this airport, no hustle or hassle but just pick up the baggage and hire car and go. Give me a queue, a crowd or screaming kids in a sweaty, confined space means travel loses all its glamour but having Tinnitus too can make it a nightmare.
Our destination is Propriano – Prupia to the locals - is reached in just over an hour driving on one inch wide roads (no we refuse metric!) and through parched Mediterranean country. It is a very small town or perhaps large village that owes much of its prosperity to its precious coastal bay-side location, the one dock is for the ferry to Marseilles , plentiful pleasure boats bob close by but there are no fishing boats.
We have arrived famished and are on the look out for grub. The selection is endless but nothing really grabs either of us; quayside creperies, hosts of bistros and pizzerias mix with roadside souvenir shops mixed, delis and supermarkets. We plump for ham and cheese crepe and Doug has an extremely anaemic Panini, far too much bread and not enough filling for my liking, he vows NEVER to eat Panini again! The crepe oozes three cheeses but they've forgotten the ham! Oh well I'll feast my eyes on the stunning view across the bay instead with white villas dotted in the wooded mountains; from a distance forests walks and sandy coves to entice us to chill-out, relax and enjoy...
Come evening local foody delights are worth the time and taste: plates of smoked wild boar (it still lurks here!) meat quaffed with robust course Corsican vino. Sweet masala wines wash down high-cal chestnut puddings from the Castagniccia region (below your index and thumb) - a forest of chestnut trees planted by the Genoese and still going strong. We did discover ‘a find', Le Petit Mignon a classy joint run by an Italian countess who every morning seduced us with all butter croissant and the creamiest, home baked quiche EVER. Mmmm, as I write my lips are licked!
Doug and I are not ones for sun and sea – despite him being a Blackpool boy - but we both love history and have heard of some fab museums in the island's capital.
Ajaccio is about an hour from Propriano but through verdant valleys. Once you hit the city I its faded, gilded charm reminiscent of the south of France is so lovely after Prupia. Not only great shopping but the Musée Fesch houses the best collection of early Renaissance paintings outside the Louvre. Typical of the south Europeans it was closed for three hours for siesta! Oh well time to get to grips with the city's most notorious son Napoleon, but soon found out he is persona non grata in Corsica. We headed for a quiet moment in little square draped with an abundance of the most beautiful bougainvillea in the richest magenta, cerise and deep purple I have ever seen. Why won't it grow in Snowdonia?
Just 15 minutes away by car from base is the rocky hilltop city of Sartène (Sarte). Said to be the most Corsican of Corsican towns it is a stunner. I looked up the steps from the church but decided to stay put with a coke in a delightful tree-lined square with cafes and music to watch boys and girls go by. I love to shop till I drop and Simon Giacomini is a must stop and shop shop! It is a bazaar of bizarre baubles, bangles and beads, I wanted to bring half the shop home but practical Doug said it would break, his way of refusing to spend another bean!
A good hour's drive away is the ancient fortress of Bonifacio (Bonifaziu). This teetering town is a maze of walkways and pavements with shops and cafes. The centre is high-up above its rectangular harbour, and the roads to it and within it are steep and hilly so if you find it hard to get around catch the little train up-top failing that go for trip on the briny instead. You can be ferried across to tiny islands, azure grottos and even Sardinia .
That's it the trip is over and back to Britain . Glad to get home and nosh that bacon sarnie. Would we return? Doug he likes everything to hand so he'll be staying slap bang in the city centre. I love the Alps so next time it would chill-out inside Corsica where no-one could reach me and take day trips to places like Ajaccio carefully avoiding siestas, if that's possible!
Back
FREE Audio Downloads - Soundbytes
|
| Russell Grant interviews Claire Hall, Director of www.directcorsica.com to find out the facts about Corsica. Please feel free to download the audio files for your MP3 player or to listen to on your PC: |
|
Russell's Radio Travelogue:
|
|
Useful information:
Producing content for Kids & Co TV channel launching in 2007 through Britain, Ireland, Europe and Asia.
|
|
|
Russell's Travel Features |
Read Russell's travel features:
|
 |
|
| The Lord of Ashford's 5* Travels |
|
|
|
|
|
