Corsica, France

Why Corsica? Well, neither of us had really given it much thought until our New Zealand friends, Adam and Nici, decided to end their European holiday on the island. We'd been looking for an excuse to hang out with them in Europe and knew that it would be a really nice laid back way to get ready for Africa. We weren't disappointed. Corsica, best known as the birthplace of Napoleon, has endless beaches, incredibly rugged and wild mountains that make for excellent hiking, and a unique culture that few Americans ever choose to see up close. We're glad we did.

One of the first views we had of Corsica, as we approached Calvi, on the northwest coast of the island, aboard a fast ferry from Nice. This view is of Calvi's 15th century citadel, which houses a French Foreign Legion officers' mess.

The town of Calvi.

Okay, Tim insisted on going straight from arrival in Calvi to some arts and crafts route between Calvi and Ile Rousse that he'd read about. But all we found was a hokey olive oil faux press, a woman who hissed at us when we tried to find local pottery, and this view. It wasn't our best day.

We set out to find a spring where natural mineral water is bottled, near Orezza in the east central mountains....First we met this pig, who spends most of his days looking for chesnuts, which thrive on the island and were once of mainstay of Corsica's economy. The Corsicans make all sorts of desserts and even flour from the nuts. They will probably soon make all sorts of things out of this pig, too.

The Lonely Planet guide (which also raved about that arts and crafts route near Calvi) says that this village is located on the Eastern Plain. Yeah, and it was about the time that we read about plains that clearly aren't plains when we figured out that we were lost somewhere in the Corsican mountains on our way to find a spring....

....at least the scenery en route to that spring was nice. (We did end up finding the spring, at 7:30 p.m. Guess we missed the tour)

The day after the mountain pig chase, we headed due south, to Corsica's southern-most tip at Bonifacio, which is perched atop sheer limestone cliffs that plunge straight down into the Mediterranean. These cliffs are believed by some to be where Odysseus met the cannibalistic Laestrygonians in Homer's "Odyssey".

A beautiful day at Bonifacio...and no cannibals in sight.

Another view of Bonifacio, a day earlier. The surf gives absolutely NO idea how windy it was when this was taken! Literally, we had to take care not to be blown away.

Looking for cannibals, Paulito?

In front of Bonifacio's citadel.

When you're in a tent (okay, it wasn't a pup tent) outside Bonifacio and there's nothing else to do, why not pop into the laptop DVD some circa 1930s Flash Gordon episodes (thanks to Joe Beard for the gift)? Adam looks skeptical (understandable, given 1930s sci-fi).

The lighthouse at Cape Pertusato, Corsica's southern tail end. That on the other side, folks, is the northern coast of Sardinia (Italy).

So Adam goes windsurfing at Piantarella Beach near Bonifacio...and Tim and Paul stumble across some ruins in the dunes and scrubland inland from the beach. Are these finally the real Roman ruins Paul had been awaiting? In the distance, across the water, are the Lavezzi Islands, where 750 soldiers died en route to the Crimean War in 1855 after their ship was wrecked during a storm. The event remains to this day the worst shipping disaster in the Mediterranean.

The reverse swastika told us that this was something really old. In fact,these ruins that we climbed all over -- and this mosaic which we walked on -- were indeed Roman. Paul was very happy.

After Bonifacio, we headed north to Corte, the cultural capital of Corsica, in the island's central highlands. The town was founded in 1419 and served as independent Corsica's capital from 1755-69. Tim and Adam check out the mountains that rise up around Corte...and show off the tell-tale signs that they aren't as young as they were when they met at university in New Zealand in 1989.

A spliced view of Corte, from a point on a hiking path above the city.

More of Corte's citadel.

Corsica's goats generally meet a better fate than its pigs. The goats' milk goes to an amazing variety of indigenous cheeses.

Adam and Nici in front of Corte's citadel.

Citadel, citadel....

....Citadel, citadel (okay, we liked the citadel).

On the way out of Corte, we drove through the Restonica River Gorge. Amazing scenery.Check out the horns on these goats!

Okay, this ain't your average weed. The Restonica Gorge was alive with wildflowers (Tim very, very happy), including this orchid (yes, Brian, this one counts).

From our last day in Corsica. At Pino, on the Cape Corse in the far north. This elaborate house is, you guessed it, a home for the dead. Corsica's countryside and towns are dotted all over with such mausoleums.

Part of Pino town, looking down on the Ligurian Sea and the ruins of the town's Genoese tower.

Detail from the previous photo. In the 1500s, the Genoese rulers of Corsica built this and about 90 other similar fortified towers as a defensive system that could relay a signalled message around the island in less than an hour.

Bye-bye, Corsica. In a few hours, Tim and Paul will be on a rocky overnight ferry headed back to mainland France and on to Paris....