Last night at dinner at our B&B we met a group of eight, a family from Paris, who are doing some serious hiking and staying at primitive refuges. They are staying at our B&B for a couple of nights to relax and prepare for an ascent of Mount Cinto, the highest peak in Corsica (2710 m).
Last night the discussion between the French family and the B&B owner Jean-Francois became heated as they crossed the forbidden boundary and started discussing politics.
Today Sharon and I braved the white-knuckle switch-back road from here to the town of Corte which was the capital of Corsica from 1755 to 1769. Even then the Corsicans never controlled the major cities of the coast which remained in the hands of the Geonese. The Geonese were pretty nasty. In the last village we stayed at, Piana, the entire male population was killed and the females banished so that the village was uninhabited for 300 years.
In Corte we visited the Corsican museum which had a particular exhibit that struck us. Its was about the Corsican brotherhoods where men participate in processions dressed in gowns and hoods that look like the Klu Klux Klan. Very creepy, but apparently the hood idea is to hide the identity of the member because he is ashamed of his sins and is seeking redemption from Christ. Or some such crap.
But the highlight of Corte was the spectacular "Eagle's nest" citadel which was started in 1419. It's a small fort on top of a 100 m tower of rock. An amazing visit and we had a picnic at the base of the citadel.
We had another surperb Corsican meal at the B&B tonight, this time wild boar was the main course. We heard a lot about production of local food from host Jean-Francois and why it's so expensive. We were joined by the French family again and we had a real dinner party. Lots of good conversation.
Tomorrow, Good Friday, we are off to our next and last B&B in Vallecalle near the east coast.
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