My daughter invited us to stay with her and her family in Corsica for a week. Because my wife and I are retired, we chose to extend our trip there to be able to see more of this lovely French Island in the Mediterranean. I did a little research and decided it would be best for us to meet them at their apartment in Paris (partly because we wanted to have the Eurostar under the English Channel experience, but mostly because we had not seen the grandchildren in five months) and then fly on to meet them again in Corsica. They were driving and taking the overnight car ferry from Toulon in the south of France. Since it was May we were ahead of the prime season in Corsica and things were less expensive and less crowded. We rented an economy car at the airport in Figari which is in the southern part of the island. The car was practically brand new and well suited for the narrow winding roads. Though we drove for something close to 20 hours while we were there, we spent less than 120 Euros on gas.
Since we arrived a few days earlier than the rest of the family, we spent some time visiting the citadel and port of Bonifacio, Napoleon Bonaparte’s birth city of Ajaccio, and a day hiking and taking in the natural beauty of the south central highlands around the Village de San Gavino di Carbini. We stayed at three different B&B’s all of which were charming but in different ways. We stayed the first two nights at Chambre d’hotes Caseddu Di Poggiale, one night in Villa Alba Rosula and one night in Auberge U n’Antru Versu. The only regret was that we didn’t have enough time at any of these wonderful places. That is the problem with trying to see it all.
The highlight of the trip was spending a week with family while we were at a coastal villa near Figa in the southeast of the island. It had a heated pool, beautiful views, and easy access to beaches. The water at the beaches was still a little cold for me and my wife, but the kids didn’t seem to mind. We also went on an all day catamaran cruise with them to the idyllic islands of Lavezzi and Cavallo off the southeast coast of Corsica. After a week we said goodbye to family as they headed back on their return trip to Paris. We stayed three more days in Corsica covering ground we had not visited yet. We had planned to take a full-day boat trip from Galeria to the UNESCO Natural Reserve of Scandola (formally known in English as, Gulf of Porto: Calanche of Piana, Gulf of Girolata, Scandola Reserve) but the trip was canceled by our tour operator the night before it was scheduled to occur because of weather. (I suspect it was because there were not enough people signed up to make the trip profitable. It wasn’t sunny, but the seas were calm and there was not much wind.) As plan B, my wife chose to relax at our B&B, Résidence Casa Toga, while I chose to hike to the reserve to see what I could see. I am glad I did because it was good exercise, but the long scenic drive back to Figari the next day along the coast was even more scenic.
If you like good food, friendly people, a slower pace of life, and a fair amount of diversity of activities, then Corsica is a good choice. I highly recommend every place we stayed. They were all clean and comfortable with hosts that were kind and helpful. The breakfasts were great and we got good information about the local area from our hosts at each of the B&Bs. We cannot carry on a conversation in French, but with a little help from Google translate and a lot of help from our patient hosts we had a good time and felt welcome everywhere we went.
For photos from the first part of the trip click here. For photos from the region around the villa click here, for photos from the last part of the trip click here and for family photos (sign in required) of our May adventure click here.