The morning was spent with neighbours Sheila and Cole. We started off at Chez Christine for breakfast and then drove on to the market in Lourmarin. This was another sprawling market through most of the town. The weather was very agreeable for a leisurely stroll.
On the way back to Saignon, we stopped for a photo at the borie that we found back in 2004 with Dennis & Jackie.
The afternoon was spent at the mas. Dawn did some ironing and the bags got packed up again.
We spent the later afternoon playing cards again with Sheila & Cole and then went upstairs to the Parker’s for drinks. They were very friendly, helpful people and we feel very fortunate to have found such a nice spot to visit. I’m fairly certain we will return.
For dinner tonight we went up to Le Baladin in Saignon. There are actually several choices for good dining in the village, but as this one was recommended by the Parkers, the decision about where to eat was made easy. This restaurant is very small and offers simply two entrees, two main dishes and three desserts. Fortunately, there was something for everybody this evening- foie gras and smoked salmon moelleux for starters; tournados of duck and a red fish for main course and chocolate cake, frommage blanc with honey and stewed seasonal fruit for dessert. It was a nice way to finish our time here.
At 4:00 Saturday morning, we were on the road to Toulon to catch our ferry to Ajaccio in Corsica. Not much traffic at this hour of the morning! In fact we only encountered 2 trucks in the first half hour of travel. We made Aix en Provence by 4:45 and got to Toulon just a little before 6:00. If it hadn’t been pitch black all the way, I’m imagining the scenery would have been remarkable, but the lack of traffic was a bonus.
After entering the port, we had a 1½hour wait to board the ship. This is easily the largest ship we’ve been on, with 4 decks for cars and 4 decks for people. There were even cabins, although we didn’t have one. The boat was not very crowded so we weren’t crammed in.
As we left Toulon, it became apparent that Toulon is a huge naval port as we sailed by all manner of naval vessels – battleship, aircraft carrier, submarine – you name it.
The trip started off smoothly, but very quickly we ran into 3 metre swells, at which time the barf bags started coming out all over the ship. Despite the fact that this was a large ship, it was really being thrown around and warnings about staying away from open railings and “sorry the elevators aren’t working”, became frequent.
In the course of the trip we were treated to two movies, The Queen and Transporter 2, en francais and with those and our books and of course a snore or two, the six hours went relatively fast. As we continued along the coast of Corsica to the southerly port of Ajaccio, I got hungry – Dawn was working on not flipping her biscuits - so we went up to the Gourmet Express and I had some lunch. I was thinking, “How civilized!” to eat well on a ferry when a man with a little dog stopped next to me and the dog began an extensive pee against a chrome post and onto the carpet. Vive la France! There were many dogs on the ship, by the way, and they actually had a little “relieving field” of gravel on the fly deck just for the pooches. We just take the dogs for granted now because they are everywhere, but I kind of chuckled when Dawn was trying on clothes in a store in Apt the other day and a dog poked his head out from under the changing room curtain.
Upon disembarking in Ajaccio, we made our way further south on the wide but windy Corsican roads to the village of Olmeto, where we’d booked a hotel. This country is one serious bump! There is hardly a flat section to be had and the peaks here aren’t plebian by any means, most topping out at two kilometers. We quickly realized we wouldn’t be seeing much of northern Corsica on this trip.
We found our hotel in Olmeto – Hotel Santa Maria - and although it’s quaint, we may not stay the entire five nights in Corsica here that we intended. It was a Michelin recommendation and they’ve been pretty reliable, but we’ll see how we feel after a couple of nights here. The village itself is yet another perched village and the Santa Maria is near the bottom of the perching. We’re thinking that we won’t see much of the rest of Corsica if we stay in this location for 5 nights.
Before dinner, which by the way in Corsica doesn’t start until 8:00, we drove down the coast to Propriano, which is the commerce city of the area. There are great sandy beaches here and a myriad of tourist shops. So far, we have noticed that Corsica is indeed significantly different from mainland France. The dialect they speak is harder to understand. The architecture is based more on stone than stucco and tonight’s meal was served family style. We had soup served in a terrine and took as much as we wanted. The charcuterie plate came the same way, as did the main course of lamb for Dawn and wild boar for me. The cheese course was served as 3 huge hunks of cheese that we just helped ourselves to. Dessert – Iles Flottante – was served a la carte, but for 23 Euros plus wine per person, we had an outstanding meal in the restaurant of our hotel. Bonus!
Sunday morning, the plan was to head to the south from Olmeto, so off we went. The first town of significance that we came upon was Sartene, which is one of the few wine towns in Corsica. Almost every town or village in Corsica is perched due the county’s topography, but because the light was just right, I got a great shot of this town’s profile.
Next, we drove down the coast. The roads in Corsica are actually very good – good surfaces and lots wide – however, not much in the way of straight, so once again this point A to point B thing is not quick. On the way to Bonafacio, we encountered an interesting rock formation resembling a lion. Dawn still hasn’t made out the lion in this shot.
Bonafacio was a destination worth driving to. It has a beautiful harbour below a town built on an amazing chunk of rock. Therefore, it is very touristy! But heh, we’re tourists and we loved it. There were way too many photo ops in this town and not just buildings!
We took the Petit Train from our car park and although the tour was en francais, we got a good overview of the town. We jumped of mid-way through the tour, walked the narrow streets and wound up finding a restaurant at the top of town for lunch.
We walked back down from the upper town to our car park after a great lunch and continued our journey, this time up the east coast of Corsica. The land was a little flatter along the coast, which made for easier driving, but at Porto Vecchio, we headed across the interior back to where we were staying on the west coast. From earlier appraisals of the maps, Dawn thought I was nuts to take this totally convoluted drive, but then, heh, what’s new? As we climbed, the skies darkened and the rain began, which was too bad because this was an amazing drive. At one of the summits, some 1500 metres above the coast, we came upon a fairly large village. Go figure! Our average speed for this island crossing was about 40 kph, which gives you some idea of the roads.
When we successfully made it to the west coast, the skies turned blue and we stopped for a walk through Propriano. We stopped for a drink here at the Napoleon Café before heading back to our hotel. While here, we got our regular Sunday phone call from Jessie. At this point in our journey it’s great to hear from Canada. They may not have any internet in the area, but the cell phone coverage is outstanding! Did I mention that Napoleon was born in Corsica and therefore there are lots of Napoleonic references?
By the time we made it back to Olmeto, the last of the sun was gracing the side of our hotel. We killed a couple of hours before the mandatory 8:00 dinner time, which means I worked on pics & today’s blog entry – not sure when this will get posted – and Dawn read and played cards. We dined again at our hotel for a second night, deciding now that we would head back to Ajaccio tomorrow for our remaining nights.
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