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| LE DAUPHIN HOTEL |
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| NAPOLEON IN EMPEROR'S ROBES |
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| MEMORIAL TO NAPOLEON AT PLACE D'AUSTERLITZ |
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| AJACCIO HARBOUR |
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| SCENIC TRAIN OVER MOUNTAINS TO CASAMOZZA |
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| A SWIM IN THE MEDITERRANEAN AT PINETU BEACH |
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| L'ESPERANZA CAMPSITE |
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| BASTIA-PORETTA AIRPORT |
At 6.50am David peered out of his tent and, as instructed, I patted on the side of Samira's to wake her up. I said my farewells to them both then left the campsite to walk down to the Bonifacio bus stop. It was fortunate that I was a little early as the bus left 6 minutes before its 7.10am scheduled time. I had been warned about bus timings in Corsica, but had assumed that meant they were often late!
There were another ten people on the bus, some of whom I recognised. It dropped us off at Scopetto where we changed to a larger bus that took us all the way to Ajaccio. It was a long and windy three hour journey that visited a few interesting towns such as Sartene and Propriano along the way. As usual I went searching for the tourist office as soon as the bus had dropped me by the harbourside, and quickly found it. They suggested that the Hotel Le Dauphin would be good value for my stay and, at €60 for two nights, it certainly was.
One reason for coming to Ajaccio is that it was Napoleon Bonaparte's birthplace, so I dropped my bags at the Hotel and went on a history tour.
My first find was the Fesch Palace, named after Cardinal Joseph Fesch (1763-1839), Napoleon's maternal uncle, who gave a lot of money to create in his native town 'an art and science institute' for the education of young people. He also donated a large collection of paintings which are displayed here, including a very famous one showing Napoleon in his emporial robes. Attached to the Palace is the Imperial Chapel where Joseph Fresch and Napoleon's parents are buried.
It was hot in the afternoon, and I felt tired, so I went back to the Hotel for a siesta which extended into the early evening. When I resurfaced the light was fading, but I could hear pleasant guitar music along the street and headed towards it. It was coming from the Cafe Latin, so I ordered a bruschetta and red wine and enjoyed my meal al fresco, bathing in the warm atmosphere of the street. This was followed by fruit salad, cassis sorbet and black coffee. It was a lovely relaxing evening and I slept well that night.
Friday morning in Ajaccio, and what a glorious sunny day. After an excellent breakfast I left the Hotel to continue my Napoleonic history tour. First I visited Place Foch to see Laboureur's statue of Napoleon dressed in Roman robes as First Consul, then, nearby in Place de Gaulle, a statue of him on a horse surrounded by his four brothers. Next, a walk away from the city centre to Place d'Austerlitz brought me to the location of a huge granite monument listing Napoleon's main victories and achievements. It is topped by a bronze statue by Seurre representing Napoleon in classic pose as a Guard Colonel (copied from a statue in Les Invalides, Paris).
I ate a picnic lunch by the Plage Trottel and walked back to the centre along the waterside, passing inland of the Citadel since it is still used by the military and thus cannot be entered.
I visited the house where Napoleon was born and learned much about his parents and family. Finally, the Napoleonic Museum at the Hotel de Ville housed medals, paintings and other artifacts relating to his life. Bonaparte is still admired and the places I visited have become sites of pilgrimage for some. Although I saw death masks and a model of the house on St. Helena where he was finally exiled and died, it was noteworthy that I didn't see any mention of Trafalgar or Waterloo. So, was he a heroic military genius and reformer of the French state, or was he simply a megalomaniac warmongering despot? A bit of both I suspect.
For supper I returned to the Cafe Latin for a salad of mozarella, tomato and olives, accompanied by white wine and traditional Corsican music. I imagined that my brother Paul was sitting opposite me at the table. He would have loved this. After a Grand Marnier nightcap back at the Hotel I was ready for sleep.
At 10.00am next morning I checked out of the Hotel. At 11.20am I was on the Ajaccio to Bastia train. I had a forward facing window seat and, as before, the ride through the mountains was delightful. The line crossed the GR20 at Vizzavona where the train stopped to drop off and pick up passengers. It was only a week and a half since I'd stayed there, but it seemed longer.
A 2.30pm I got off the train at Casamozza, some 12 miles short of Bastia, since this is quite close to Bastia-Poretta Airport where I needed to be tomorrow. For now I just walked the 7 miles to the coast along roads that were not too busy, pitching my tent at a campsite called L'Esperanza just a few hundred metres from Pinetu beach and, by 5.30pm, I was swimming in the still warm Mediterranean. The sky was patterned with a variety of those beautiful high level cirrus clouds against the pale blue backdrop.
Sunday morning, September 27th, and it's time to go home. I am happy to do so as I have achieved all that I intended, and more. Not only did I successfully walk, in good time, what is regarded by some as the most challenging trek in Europe, but I enjoyed the company of some wonderful people, managed to explore many other interesting parts of Corsica and learned something about its history. It has been an amazing experience, tough at times, but one that I will never forget.
Easyjet whisked me away from Corsica's Bastia-Poretta airport at 3.45pm. I watched the island recede through the aircraft window.
