Ajaccio and beyond

Today we descended from the mountains of Campo to the port of Ajaccio, the birthplace of Napoléon and the capitol of Corsica. We got mired in traffic where the main road goes directly through the center of the town but we ditched the car at a big parking lot at the other side.

A stroll through the town took us past the citadel, which is still a French navy outpost, and past one of the biggest tourist attractions in Corsica - Napoléon's house, Maison Bonaparte, which is now a museum. Unfortunately we arrived just before noon and Napoléon's house had just closed until 2:30 PM. It reminded me of a famous quote from Napoléon - when asked why he hadn't done more for his homeland of Corsica, Napoléon replied, "je n'ai pas eu le temps" (I didn't have time). Well we didn't have time to see Napoléon's house.

We bought some bread, cheese and other goodies at a large outdoor market and had a picnic in shady square in front of the town hall. They'll let you use the bathroom in the town hall which is pretty handy since there are no public toilets anywhere.

After lunch we continued west to the end of the point of land called Pointe de la Parata. There's a spectacular Geonese tower there and a couple of others in the distance on the Iles Sanguinaires. It's such a gorgeous scene, it's on the cover of our Lonely Planet guide book. I could'nt take a decent picture, though because it was the wrong time of day (should be early morning). We had a nice walk up to a look-off and through fields of spectacular purple flowers.

We put our feet up briefly at Châtelet de Campo, briefly, after the long drive back from Ajaccio. But we had to get something to eat so we went to a wonderful little restaurant in near-by Ste-Marie Sicche called U Fiumicellu. It's owned and operated by friends of the Herzet's. A great recommendation and a fitting end to a great day of exploring.