Blood red rocks and a nice pair of churches

Before hitting the road, we took a tour around Ajaccio. Our first stop was the museum where books that had been confiscated from the aristocracy in the revolution had been sent. Apparently, many of these beautiful leather bound volumes can be observed on rows; this would have been interesting if repair work wasn't about to be started and the books removed! We saw instead an exhibition of Corsican scenes over the last 150 years or so, which was actually more interesting than it sounds.

It had come as a surprise to us that Napoleon was actually from the aristocracy; we saw the house in which he was born, the font in the Cathedral where he was christened and the very exotic house of his childhood friend, Pozzo di Borgo just round the corner. Pozzo ended up opposing Napoleon, fighting with (on the same side) Wellington at Waterloo. Apparently Napoleon was not very keen on Corsica but it appears that although he was unfriendy to them, the Corsicans enjoy his fame – or should that be notoriety?

A Windy Day, Les Sanguinaires

We then motored down to the Isles de Sanguinaires (named after the red colour of the rock). A lovely drive along the seafront to the end of the promontory with a tower on the headland at the end and a lighthouse on the rock just offshore. On the windward side, the sea was whipped up by the wind and pounding the rocks with some venom. The cafe above was quite delightful, though I suspect that at the height of summer would just be another tourist trap!

A quiet drink at Les Sanguinaires

The shop underneath was by tourist standards very tasteful and we got most of our holiday presents here. Back along the seafront to a picnic on the beach – very British, in our jumpers, braving the chilly breeze.

Driving out of Ajaccio to Cortège, we saw many beautiful sea and landscapes; at this time of the year and in the sunshine, it is absolutely captivating. Amplified, it has to be said by the icing sugar coating that many of the high peaks have recently acquired and which were disappearing under the sun. It is not stretching the imagination too far to see how in peak season, others (in huge numbers) would be attracted too. Though for my taste the numbers would destroy the very reason for going in the first place.

Arriving in Cortège, just before 4pm, we successfully booked in to the St Jean Hotel, then went walkabout in the (little) town. We first went to see the two churches, one Roman, the other Orthodox, facing each other on opposite sides of a little valley. Conundrums that have often struck me is that one of the commandments is that images shouldn't be worshipped yet both churches had many – and both churches had extensive and very good trompe l'oeil; in one sense one has to admire the artisanal artistry to achieve this; in another sense, the image is pretending to be something it isn't.

A Tale of two Churches; Greek on the left, Roman on the right

We walked down to the quite delightful and unspoiled harbour (even if there were a couple of pizza emporia) and marvelled once again at the perfect clarity of the water. The walk back up the hill proved to be rather more effort and gave us an appetite. The restaurant below the hotel provided us with a thoroughly enjoyable meal.

written by

rickandsuejohnson on March 27, 2008 from Ajaccio, France

from the travel blog: The island of birth for 'Le petit caporal' and the roots of Bernard Nobili

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