On the road between Saint-Florent and Bastia
|
|
On the road between Saint-Florent and Bastia |
Click on any image to see a larger (1500 x 1000 pixel) version!
Since we had such a great time on our 2012 trip to Corsica, we decided to book another one for May, 2013. The idea was that our friends Norm and Andrea from North Carolina would fly into Nice a few days earlier and then accompany us to Corsica. Sadly, they had to cancel their trip at the last moment, so Vicki and I boarded the Mega Express Two on our own in the early morning of Thursday, May 9, 2013. Five and a half hours later, we arrived in Bastia, and from there we drove to our destination, L'Île Rousse, where we arrived around 3 in the afternoon. We spent the rest of the day wandering through that town, a place we know quite well and enjoy a great deal.
|
|
L'Île Rousse |
The town beach |
|
|
Café on the Place Paoli |
Façade in dire need of maintenance |
|
|
Rue Notre Dame |
The market is where to buy local products |
|
|
L'Île Rousse at night |
Town Hall |
On Friday, we woke up to overcast skies. We had time to walk into town for a cappuccino and a brocciu tart at our favorite bakery and back to the La Pietra hotel before it started pouring. The rain lasted for one hour only, and that was all the precipitation we were going to see during the entire trip. In the afternoon, we took the narrow-gauge train to Calvi, another favorite spot of ours. By the time we got back to L'Île Rousse, the weather was back to perfect.
|
|
Waking up to speckled skies |
Looking towards La Pietra |
|
|
Waiting for the train to Calvi |
Riding the Corsican railway |
|
|
Calvi seen from its citadel |
Tree in the citadel |
|
|
Looking from the citadel to the north |
Climbing all the way to the top |
|
|
The Saint-Baptiste church in the citadel |
Inside the Saint-Baptiste church |
|
|
The Piazza d'Arme in front of the church |
Along the Calvi waterfront |
Saturday morning, there wasn't a cloud in the sky, so we decided to hold off with breakfast and take the fifteen minute walk (if one stops to take pictures) up to the lighthouse. The early morning light is simply wonderful, so it was important not to waste any time. Though the sky was blue and the sun out, it was very windy and the sea was accordingly agitated in all areas that were not sheltered. In the afternoon, we took the car (the first time since arriving on Thursday afternoon) and drove to Algajola, a small village where we had stayed with the kids in 1993... 20 years ago!
|
|
Climbing up to the lighthouse |
A ray of sunlight illuminates the cactus flowers |
|
|
7 AM: The L'Île Rousse lighthouse in the morning sun |
The early light brings out the texture |
|
|
The view from the lighthouse |
Red–Green–Blue |
|
|
The view from our hotel room |
Churning waters |
|
|
The village of Algajola |
Looking north towards the beach |
|
|
Algajola boats |
In early May, the gorgeous beach is deserted |
Shortly after 6 o'clock in the morning on Sunday, we witnessed a gorgeous sunrise from our hotel room. It was definitely going to be another beautiful day! As we often do on our last day in Corsica when catching a ferry out of Bastia, we drove through Les Agriates, an almost completely uninhabited and rugged area that extends from L'Île Rousse to Saint-Florent. This picturesque little town is lovely, and we strolled around the harbor, the citadel, and the narrow streets. To get to Bastia, one has to cross some pretty impressive mountains, and of course the view en route is glorious. Our ferry sailed around 1 o'clock, and shortly after six in the evening we were back in Nice.
|
|
Sunday morning sunrise |
Les Agriates |
|
|
Saint-Florent |
Walking along Saint-Florent's harbor |
|
|
The Saint-Florent citadel |
The classic view of the little town from its citadel |
|
|
On the road to Bastia: Poppies! |
The view from the top |
These forty-one photographs, as well as forty additional ones, may also be found in one of our web galleries. Though several other Corsica pages exist on this site, we have tried to include at least a few images that we didn't have before. The main idea was to show Norm and Andrea what they had missed and thus incite them to put a Corsica trip back on the agenda. It's never a good idea not to go to this gorgeous island, and we'd love to share the experience with them!
Home | Site Info | Family | The Area | Trips | France | Work | Rants | Photography | Odds & Ends
This page was last modified on May 23, 2013
Send feedback about this page to feedback@kiechle.com
https://www.kiechle.com/trips/corsica13/index.htm
(optimized for Retina display)
All contents © 1999-2024 The Kiechles