Road to Calacuccia

And now the challenging driving begins. Up until Corte we have been exclusively on N designated roads with central dotted lines and borders but now we will be driving on D designated roads. These are usually narrower, more remote roads that go through rougher terrain. We're only traveling about 25 km today but it aims to be a very hair raising 25Km. 

We get a taste of this right away as we leave Corte and head north to a small mountainside village called Castirlu. The road clings precipitously to the mountain side as it approaches the town. 

After Castirlu we join up with D84 for the drive through the Scala dI Santa Regina. The road is a narrow 10 km ribbon through a canyon. Apparently this was a completely impassable route until Napoleon had prisoners come up into the mountain to blow up enough rock to allow space for a road. It's a gorgeous but slightly terrifying drive as you often don't know what's coming around the next corner and if it's a large vehicle like a bus, there may not be enough room to pass safely. 

Fortunately, we make it through with only a few vehicles heading in our direction. 

Leaving the canyon we arrive in the Vallee de Niolo, a sheltered valley high in the Corsican mountains that is one of the least visited but most beautiful places in Corsica. 

We're here to spend the night in the town of Calacuccia but unfortunately we have shown up a little too late to visit the tourist office and a little too early to check  into our pension, Casa Balduina. 

We decide to stop for lunch at the local bar. A couple of people are eating what looks like small pizzas. I look at the menu and realize, since pizzas are not identified anywhere, that the dish I'm looking for is bruschetta (in this case pronounced with a "sk" sound). 

I order one with tomato sauce, ham, mozzarella and gruyere cheeses. It's basically a pizza on top if a large but reasonably thin slice of country bread. It's a very tasty cross between a normal pizza and the bruschetta that we are normally used to (you know, the one with the "sh" sound). 

Corte

After three great days in the South, today will be mostly about heading into the mountains. 

We make our way up the coast from Porto Vecchio stopping to spend some time at Pinarellu beach for sun and a basic lunch.  After yesterday's beaches, this one is only so so. 

We continue up the coast for another 45 minutes. The road is pretty easy with lots of straightaways for passing. It's basically resort town after resort town. To the West we can see the mountains that make up the central spine of Corsica. We get a brief glimpse of the Aguilles de Bavella, a series of sharp jagged mountains which we could have driven closer to but which would have required an extra 3 hours on narrow and windy mountain roads. 

Eventually we reach the turnoff for Corte at which point we head West along N200, another main highway, which follows  the valley carved into the landscape by the Tavignano River. 

Ahead in the distance we can see a gigantic rock wall with a town situated at its base. This is Corte, former capital city of Corsica and still the gateway to the mountains of the region. 

3 KM before town, we stop off at L'Attrachju, our accommodation for the night. It's a really nice small hotel with a very modern clean design. There are maybe 6-8 rooms and the family that owns the hotel lives in a separate private area. The guest rooms are all on the second floor and ours features a terrace of at least 500 sq ft with stunning mountain views. 

We then headed into Corte proper. It's another very quaint town. This time featuring a central citadel that perches dramatically  on a rock overlooking the town.  

We grab dinner at U Museu, a pleasant restaurant just below the citadel (which was closed for the day unfortunately). I have another wild boar stew, this time flavored with thyme. I also finally try a Corsica Cola, Corsica's local answer to (and likely copyright infringement of) Coca Cola. Strangely it tastes more like Pepsi.

After dinner, back at the hotel, I sit out on the balcony taking in the night sky while listening to music. I haven't seen this many stars in ages. I even manage to spot a few shooting stars (which have been demystified as merely space debris burning up as they enter Earth's atmosphere). 

I'll have what she's having

After checking into the Hotel Marina Corsica outside Porto Vecchio we decide to head up to the old town for dinner. 

Like many other "old towns" old Porto Vecchio is located behind ramparts on top of a hill overlooking the actual port itself. The pretty and narrow cobblestone streets are filled with souvenir shops and restaurants offering three course meals with views "from our terrasse". 

Our plan is to walk around and see what's available but Dana has zeroed in on one of the first restaurants that we walked by, A Cantina di L'Orriu. It's a small wine bar but its kitchen is highly recommended. Dana has spotted a particular dish that she really wants and while I successfully convince her that we should explore other options, no other menu interests her more and we return to the Cantina just before their 7PM opening and get seats in their streetside terrasse. 

I order the Escalope de Veau Corse Panee a Ma Facon avec Pommes Grenailles Poellees a la Panzetta. This is a pan fried veal scallop done in the chef's secret way with potatoes fried with some pancetta. 

When it first arrives I note that the quality and texture of the veal is excellent but I'm having a little trouble identifying any flavor. It seems a little bland. The potatoes have an immediate spicy kick so I'm surprised the veal doesn't also stand out. I decide to wait patiently to see if a flavor reveals itself. Fortunately it does. A couple of bites later and I'm tasting an amazing sweetness in the coating of the veal. The surface of the veal has been caramelized with sugar or honey and it's actually working perfectly. Now I can't get enough of it and, as befits a really good meal, I start taking smaller bites in order to prolong the experience. 

Now as good as my dish was, you might be wondering about Dana's, the one that brought us here in the first place. She'd ordered the appetizer Tartine de Chèvre Frais Grille aux figues fraiches et miel de maquis (fresh goat cheese toasted on bread with fresh figs and Maquis honey). 

As good as my dish was, hers was even better. Even though it was only an appetizer it was big enough to serve as a main course and came accompanied by a salad. 

How good was it really? It was so good I decided (at Dana's prompting) to order it for dessert. Hey, it's a sweet dish with cheese and figs. That passes for dessert in most of France. It was a good decision and this was unarguably our best meal yet. It may be hard to top this one. 

Best Beach Yet

We're now on the road to the Plage de Palombaggia, generally considered to be Corsica's ultimate beach. It's probably only a mile or two from Santa Giulia as the crow flies but since it's part of a peninsula that bulges out from the coast we end up on a road for what seems like fifteen minutes climbing and descending past resorts and luxurious private beach homes. 

When we finally reach the beach area we pass the series of empty paid parking lots and find a spot within a 1 minute walk of the beach. Obviously in high season this beach is completely mobbed but the end of September is just nearing low season and apparently Sunday afternoon is also a quiet time for beach going. 

Well the guides were right. As nice as Santa Giulia was this beach is just that much better. There's much less wind so the water is as calm as I've ever seen it.  Even Dana is very impressed calling this one of the best beaches she's ever seen. 

We spend the next two hours alternating between the sun and the sand. Since Dana likes sunning herself I get the water 70% of the time.  It's a good deal for me. 

I'm not the biggest fan of beaches but I had to tear myself away from this one and if you can find me another one like Palombaggia (or its sibling from this morning) I'll be there. 

Aubergines a la bonifacienne

After relaxing for around 90 minutes at Santa Giulia Beach we headed back on the road to find a quick lunch before hitting another beach for the afternoon. 

Dana spotted a couple of places as we went along. The first place turned out to be closed but the second, U Pinu, was open and was happy to provide lunch. 

I ordered Aubergines a la Bonifacienne, a dish that I had noticed on an earlier menu. I wasn't exactly sure how they were prepared but I had a strong suspicion that I would enjoy them. 

The Aubergines were prepared by scooping out the insides and mixing them with Brocciu cheese, a lightly salty local sheep's cheese that is a staple in Corsican Cuisine. The combined mixture was then returned to the Aubergine shell and baked with a tomato based sauce on top. Every bite of this delicious dish had a wonderfully consistent texture, from the blend of the cheese and eggplant. A trip highlight so far. 

Beach hopping

We left Bonifacio at around 10 in the morning with our next hotel only around 20km away in the seaside town of Porto Vecchio. Doesn't seem like it should take awhile to make the trip, does it?

Yet, between Bonifacio and Porto Vecchio lies a vast wasteland of red rocks, green trees, white sand and azure water that is ideal from distracting weary travelers from their routes and luring them, siren like, to a nearby chaise lounge.

I'm not sure how Corsica lucked out but this part of the island features a series of stunning beaches that rival the best beaches in the world. Even better, due to the fact that we are in low tourist season, the beaches are almost empty at this time of year. 

Our first stop is the very first beach we come across, Santa Giulia. It's just off the main roadway making it very accessible to anyone. 

It's a gorgeous protected cove with the most perfect warm blue water and soft white sand. There are no waves so you can just float there and absorb all the beauty surrounding you. I can even set my beach towel in a spot where there is shade from a nearby tree. 

The panorama photo really is the way to go for a beach like this. I've only just discovered that my new camera can even do this. 

Bad case of yacht envy

Obelix's dinner

Anyone who's ever read an Asterix book will know that Obelix's favorite food is without a doubt Sanglier. Sure he wants the magic potion more but can't have it because he fell into the cauldron when he was a baby....I digress. 

Since most of you have never read an Asterix book I'll just tell you that I had wild boar stew the other night for dinner and it was really good. Much of that praise can probably be chalked up to the mole sauce made in this instance with a fair amount of chocolate. So good. I also had Soupe Corse for an appetizer which was basically a soup made up of Corsica's staple products. Vegetables, potatoes and charcuterie, which in this case was some fairly tough meat. Not bad but not memorable. For dessert I had a cheese plate featuring several different types of local cheese each with an increasing level of strength. That was pretty good. 

On the way back to the hotel I was going to have Green Tomato gelato but ended up opting for VanillaBourbon instead. Good flavor but probably the wrong choice in hindsight because how often am I going to find green tomato gelato?

Upon our return to the room we were treated to a reasonably impressive fireworks display from the top of the citadel to celebrate the end of the season for B-52, one of the bars on the other side of the marina. Unfortunately this meant that B-52 would be very noisy and crowded and this would probably make it  harder for us to sleep. Answer: it did. I ended up using ear plugs for the first time in a while. This was still a great hotel despite the noise. 

Here are a couple more images from Bonifacio. You'll get no pictures from dinner because there is just no way to make that stew look good on film. 

Deep Blue Snorkeling

There are actually two popular boat tours from the Bonifacio marina. One is the 17 Euro grotto tour I had just taken. The other is the 35 Euro trip to the Iles Lavezzi a small group of uninhabited islands off Bonifacio and easily the southernmost part of France (except for places like French Guyana, of course). 

The boat tour takes you to the islands and leave you there to walk around and enjoy the beaches and the deserted island. To me, the beautiful blue water sounded like the best part. 

It seemed silly to take both boat tours for a grand total of 52 euros. Fortunately I found a way to get to the Iles Lavezzi practically for free. Well, Dana actually found it. It turns out Dana was planning on doing a dive with a local dive shop at the Iles Lavezzi and I was welcome to come along for free and I could use their snorkeling equipment for free as well. Done. I had actually contemplated bringing a cheap mask and snorkel set that I had bought in Turkey but decided it  was just too much to carry. Turns out I didn't need it. 

We met up with the other divers at the Barakouda Dive shop. From there we drove to Piantarella Beach to meet up with our boat. Then we were out on the splendid Mediterranean. 

It was a perfect day with clear blue skies, warm sun and calm waves. As the boat made its way toward Lavezzi we got farther and farther from the Corsican coast and you could see the immense beauty of the island with the beach and lower island giving way to the imposing peaks of the Alta Rocca (pretty much the High Rocks) and the clouds that were 

almost always surrounding their summits. 

In the distance you could easily make out the coast line of Sardinia the Italian controlled sister island to Corsica. We then passed Ile Cavallo, a private island only open to French and Italian billionaires or Bond villains (or both in the case of Silvio Berlusconi). 

Upon arrival at Lavezzi, we dropped anchor in a cove on the back side of one of the islands. The experienced divers, including Dana, took off while the first time divers were doing a safety runthrough. I already did a first time dive several years ago inside a gorgeous coral  reef in Belize so there's no way this dive would measure up. 

I quickly grabbed my gear (mask, snorkel and fins) and jumped in the beautiful blue water. I'd paid 5 Euros for a wet suit but the water was far too warm for that. 

I spent the next hour or so swimming around the cove checking out the different underwater formations and some of the fish, which included some large groupers. After that I just swam around for a little while. It was incredibly relaxing. Hopefully some of the pictures I took with my underwater camera will look good. For now you'll just have to make do with the descriptions. 

I thought about going onto the island itself but most of the rocks which I would have had to climb on to get ashore had sharp shells or edges and I decided it wasn't worth the risk. Fortunately after the dive was over the captain took our boat all around the islands so we could see all the unique rock formations, including the elusive Lavezzi Elephant (photos taken with a different camera, sorry). 

This one looks a little like a tortoise. 

This one looks more like Picasso

The boat brought us back at around 530 and on our drive back to Bonifacio we were treated to the most dramatic view yet.  The cliffs of Bonifacio and the mountains of the Alta Rocca all visible at the same time jn our windshield. We went back the next morning to take some pictures but it just wasn't the same in the different light. 

Little Dragon Grotto

First morning in Bonifacio. The hotel Solemare is great. We've been upgraded to a suite and there is a relaxing pool with a citadel view. If there is a drawback it's that the clubs opposite us on the marina play techno dance music until 230 AM and the bass heavy reverberations carry across the marina water very well. 

For breakfast I buy a Pain des Morts (Bread of the Dead?) a local bonifacien specialty. It's a round loaf of bread with a lightly browned top filled with raisins and walnuts. Reminds me a little of a raisin challah. 

After breakfast it's off to the 1 hr boat tour of the grottos and calanques in the coastline that surrounds Bonifacio. 

I'm on the Thalassa 1 with about 20 other people. Dana hasn't joined me because we will be spending the afternoon on another boat and she figured you've seen one grotto you've seen them all. I totally agree with her decision but I can't resist the opportunity to get a few shots of Bonifacio from the water. 

The first stop is the Grotto dI Sdragonatto (Little Dragon Grotto). The boat heads towards a large alcove in the cliff wall. At first it looks like there's nowhere else for the boat to go. Then you notice the crack in the wall at the back of the alcove and that maybe, just maybe there's enough room for your boat to get through into the chamber beyond. Long story short, there is. 

Once inside the grotto you can gaze into the greenish blue waters, stare at the crystalline structures on the walls or look up to see the hole in the roof of the grotto that looks very much like the outline of Corsica itself. 

  

After the Little Dragon grotto the boat continues a little further west jn order to take us by a few calanques, which are rocky inlets which are often unreachable by foot. Finally the boat passes by Bonifacio from the sea allowing us some spectacular views of the staircase and the village overhang. 

 

To the four winds

For our first evening in Bonifacio Dana and I set out to find a good restaurant among the dozens arrayed along the city side of the port. Most offer three course meals with an emphasis on local Corsican cuisine. 

I'm tempted by Kissing Pigs, which is supposed to have some great charcuterie but the Lonely Planet Corsica Guide which I have as an App on my iPhone has identified one more good restaurant, Aux 4 Vents that specializes in fresh fish and had a house bouillabaisse. I'm sold. Dana later tells me that she knows how much I like Bouillabaisse and went along with a fish restaurant even though it's not her favorite type of food. I'll have to reciprocate at some point. 

Aux 4 Vents turns out to be the furthest one out on the pier and we wouldn't have gone that far if the App hadn't told us it was there. Score one for the App. 

The restaurant is very nicely done up with the back and kitchen part made to resemble a ship. Even the plates had a nautical motif and featured a deep blue color evocative of the sea. 

Of course I order their Petit Bouillabaisse Maison even though their fresh fish (which is brought over to display to guests) includes some interesting looking choices including something called a St. Pierre. 

The bouillabaisse comes in a large fish shaped bowl and features mussels, a large shrimp, a big piece of fish and a large potato. 

The large shrimp head looks daunting as it seems like it will take a lot of messy work to get to the shrimp but it's actually a little joke. The head is just for show and is very easily removed. 

The dish also comes with "garnitures" (garnishes) the application of which is its own little ritual. You take the raw garlic clove provided and rub it onto the slivers of toasted French bread. You then spread a yellow sauce that looks like mustard but is actually rouille, made with garlic and saffron, on the toast. You then sprinkle the shredded cheese (Emmenthal, it turns out) on the rouille. Finally, you dunk the finished product into the hot soup (which melts the cheese) and voila! Instant croutons. 

It's really tasty. The broth isn't too strong but it has a nice chowder taste to it. The addition of the croutons add spice and rich flavor. A pretty good balance. 

After dinner we each get a complementary digestif (post dinner liqueur) made from Myrte (Myrtle) just one of the many spices found growing all over the island within the Maquis. 

After dinner we wander back to the hotel and stop at what looks like an excellent gelateria. I order a single scoop of Basil gelato which I thought was fantastic. I'd never seen that one before. If you ever do see it somewhere I highly recommend you give it a try. 

Stairway to Heaven and Hell

The last 50 km to Bonifacio are by far the easiest of the drive. There are actually straight stretches of road that run for several kms. This facilitates faster driving and I think Dana has gotten a little tired of the endless winding mountain roads. 

The road makes its way by some spectacular coastline scenery filled with bizarre rock formations and narrow sheltered beaches. 

Finally a quick glimpse of Bonifacio's citadel as it rises seemingly out of nowhere to hang over the edge of the coastline. 

Following the road through a winding narrow valley we end up in the Bonifacio marina located below the citadel. Our hotel Solemare is located in the marina on the opposite side of the town with a fantastic view of the town and citadel. We even have a nice balcony. Check out the view. 

Dropping off our bags we decide to waste no time by heading up to the citadel and the upper town. 

It's a very short walk to the other side of the marina which offers a wide assortment of waterside cafes and restaurants, bakeries and souvenir shops. At the end of this is a steep path/staircase leading up to the citadel. The top of the path meets the road and you have two choices as to how to enter the old city: either follow a steep path through the main gate or follow the road around to the side. We opt to go up to the gate. 

Once through the gate we see that the old town is filled with narrow pedestrian only streets lined with quaint restaurants and somewhat tacky souvenir shops most of which sell some version of the famous Corsican Vendetta knife (used by Corsicans for centuries as the best way to settle a family's vendettas against some other Corsican family.  Unfortunately for some heretofore unexplained reason these vendettas never seem to end. Wonder why that is?

We wander down a few side streets marveling at the view from Bonifacio over the Mediterranean before heading over to l'escalier du roi d'Aragon. This is the must see attraction in Bonifacio aside from just seeing the citadel. It's a 187 step stone staircase carved out of the cliff that descends steeply from the summit of the Bonifacio promontory down to a path also carved into the side of the cliff not far above the water line which leads to a cave where lies hidden Jack Sparrow's treasure or something or other (it's actually just an old well but the atmospherics lend themselves to flights of fancy). 

The descent is pretty tough. My knees don't like this kind of punishment and I need to use the side rail to support myself. Fortunately when I reach bottom I  am blown away by the surreality of it all. It reminds me of some of the artwork in the Myst game series where the player explores lush otherworldly landscapes only this one is real. 

 

Unfortunately, just like every other dead end staircase to the bottom of a cliff, what goes down must inevitably go up again. The climb back is pretty brutal. If the steps had been normal sized it would have been better but because each individual step is so tall it becomes an effort to lift one foot after the other. I'm seriously winded by the time I regain the top. I figure there must be several heart attacks on or related to those stairs every season. 

Here's one last photo of the staircase taken the next day from a boat tour. 

Nice Roadside Lunch

I know Dana will want to get something to eat while we're driving down to Bonifacio and I have found just the right place in the guidebook. The Bergerie D'Acciola is reputed to be a stop for gourmands so how can I say no. I just have to convince her to keep driving long enough to reach the place which is 8 km from the town of Sartene. I just don't know which side of Sartene it's on. 

Sartene turns out to be an old walled town perched thousands of feet above the Golfe de Valinco. It seems really pretty and is highly recommended but we want to get to Bonifacio as soon as possible so we will have to give it a miss. 

We do find the Bergerie D'Acciola not long after passing Sartene and I'm surprised to find that it too is perched high above a valley with a beautiful view all the way down to the sea. 

We both order version of the house speciality the Galette de Chataigne which is pretty much a thick crepe made with chestnut flour (chestnuts being one of Corsica's most abundant products. It's as if they grow on trees). 

Dana orders the regular one with Jambon (which is very prosciutto like) and goat cheese. I order the same but with tomatoes and fresh basil thrown in. 

Both are excellent. Dana's is definitely saltier since it doesn't have the tomato and sweet basil to take the edge off the ham but they are both really good in their own distinct way. 

If you're ever in the neighborhood I highly recommend the place.  In fact I recommended it to complete strangers later on that day. What can I say, when I like a place I want others to know about it. 

Isle of Beauty

I was going to start my new trip with a post about the good and bad that always comes with any long journey. I was going to provide a full explanation (cogently argued) as to why Air Transat sucks but then I realized that everyone already knows this and on top of that, I'll continue to fly Transat if I can save a few hundred bucks. No, I'm now in Corsica and it's time to get to the good stuff. and it truly is the Isle of beauty.It's not just a name that the Corsicans gave themselves. 

Flying over the Mediterranean, the island first appears out of the clouds as a series of sharp jagged mountains. As you get closer a rough and unruly coastline becomes visible. Even closer and you can make out thrilling hiking trails along the ridges of low lying mountains near the coast. It's all quite spectacular. 

We landed in Ajaccio, one of Corsica's two main towns but immediately picked up our rental car for the ride down to Bonifacio on the southern tip of the island. I know most of you will have never heard of Bonifacio but it is on the cover of last month's National Geographic 100 Secret Journeys (we're trendsetters I tell ya). 

This first morning we would be driving about 125 kilometers which in theory should only take around an hour but in Corsica could take as much as 3 hours thanks to the mountain roads that we will have to take. 

We notice an abundance of runners who have come to run on the roads leading to and from the airport. Clearly there is very little flat terrain here. 

The road we will be traveling on is actually one of Corsica's main routes designated with the letter N but it's only two lanes for the most part. Sometimes in a particular steep mountain area there will be an extra lane for passing cars. On the other hand some of the smaller hillside villages we pass through only have a single lane for traffic so cars must wait until its their side's turn to go through. 

Regardless of the specifics, the road is a stunning drive at all times with beautiful mountain and coastal views while passing through centuries old villages perched precariously in the sky. This looks like a great spot for a vacation. 

Sketch

Sketch by Francois Schuiten

Thought I'd post something just to make sure the blog still works. I'm going to be providing running commentary to my new trip to Corsica and London (with short visits to Nice and Brussels).

You probably won't see any updates until Friday but they should be more frequent after that.

This first post actually provides a nice link from my trip to Japan (which you can read about below) to the new trip.

I never finished blogging about the last few days in Japan but one of the highlights was getting a sketch in a book from Francois Schuiten, one of my favorite artists. He and his writing partner Benoit Peeters were guests at the big manga festival I attended and they very generously agreed to sign a 20 year old paperback of one of their first works together after having spent over two hours signing and sketching in books for their Japanese fans.

While Schuiten was drawing I spoke with Peeters and we discussed Brussels and my appreciation for the architecture of Art Nouveau pioneer Victor Horta. Peeters suggested that the next time I am in Brussels I should check out the Maison Autrique, a Horta designed house which he and Schuiten had been restoring for years and which has featured prominently in some of their recent work. I hope to visit there on the last day of my vacation when I will take a day trip to Brussels.

Thus we have a connection from the end of my Japan trip to the end of my Europe trip. I'm looking forward to closing the loop.