Walking in Corsica - Sentier du Littoral, Campomoro

After a day in front of the computer, I was in need of a change of scene and a bit of fresh air, so at 7pm I headed down to Campomoro. Ignoring the obvious attractions of the superb sandy beach and the impressive Genoese tower, my aim this evening was the Sentier du Littoral.



This is a vast area of wild, protected coastline with rocky outcrops, creeks and little beaches of pebble and sometimes sand. Starting from I Pozzi behind the tower, you have the choice to head south towards Tizzano - apparently if you walk as far as the Anse d’Agulia where the huge rock formations look like penguins and a giant turtle – or north towards Propriano and the Capo Bianco. As it was early evening I turned right and headed towards Capo Bianco where the light would be better for my photos.



For anyone intrigued by rocks (like me), this area is absolutely fascinating, and you can find an amazing mix of deep red granite, porous black rock that looks almost volcanic, and huge boulders that have been washed smooth by the sea, and bleached almost white by the sun. I particularly like this shot of the tower between the rocks as the colouring of the rocks makes them look a bit like sugarpuffs!



There is also a collection of taffoni where the rocks have been sculpted by the wind and now resemble animals and even human faces at the right angle – eerie! Ignoring all the advice my parents gave us as children, I found myself clambering over rocks and even venturing into caves to explore. I was actually less concerned about disturbing a sleeping noctural animal than finding a 100 year old bandit hiding out who wasn’t aware that Corsica has now moved into the 21st century (well, in theory anyway).



By 8:30pm, I thought it was probably time to start heading home, and by the time I got back to the village, the sun was starting to set. The sea was as flat as a millpond and actually looked like a lake with several little boats moored along the coast – what a beautiful sight.



As I drove back down the hill towards Portiglio, there was a shower of brightly coloured parachutists landing on the beach (except one unlucky chap who misjudged it and ended up with an unscheduled dip in the briny), and I couldn’t help thinking once again how much there is to see and do here, even if you only have a few hours free.

Cappiciolo - unspoilt enough for a safari?

It’s such a shock on the rare occasion that the weather is not so good here in Corsica, but it rarely lasts long. Today was one of those days. Having planned a couple of hours on the beach this afternoon, I was disappointed to see a sky full of cloud when I woke up. Luckily, by lunchtime the sea breeze had chased away the cloud leaving a beautiful blue sky.



The plan was to head out to the Plage de Cyrnos half way between Propriano and Porto Pollo, but as we’d started out late we decided to stop at Cappiciolo instead. There weren’t many cars so we knew there wouldn’t be many people on the beach and we were able to settle ourselves in a prime spot next to the rocks.



I was convinced that I’d been transported back to the 1920’s or the set of ‘Carry on up the Jungle’ when I saw this bloke and his wife walking along the back of the beach. I know Corsica is unspoilt, but full safari gear does seem a bit excessive!



After a cloudy start, we were back to our usual good weather and a beautiful sunset which gave me the opportunity to trot out my favourite Italian phrase ‘Rosso di sera, bel tempo si spera’ which sounds so much more evocative than our ‘red sky at night, shepherds delight’…

Les Lauriers Roses

I always know that summer has arrived once the Lauriers Roses (oleander bushes) outside my window come into bloom.



In all shades of pink from white through to deep red, they are an absolute riot of colour found all over the island.

Plage de Campitellu & the Tour de Calanca

It was absolutely sweltering today, so I decided to abandon plans for a sandwich on the balcony in favour of a lunchtime siesta on the beach. I didn’t have long so I decided to head to the plage de Campitellu. This section of beach is a protected area of coastline and is very beautiful. It is also dominated by a stunning Genoese tower – La Tour de Calanca.



The beach was relatively busy, but then it is Saturday so that’s hardly surprising. The beach has two distinct areas; to the right is a sweep of golden sand which was busy with families, but I headed left to the rocks where I managed to find a little cove all to myself.





I’d chosen Campitellu specifically as there is often wind here, and with temperatures of over 30 degrees, I thought the breeze would be a welcome relief from the heat. I stayed just long enough for a quick dip as the sea was so inviting and then a short snooze on the sand while I dried off, but what a lovely interlude to the day!

Porto

It’s hard to believe, but in all the years I have been visiting Corsica and have lived here, I have never been to Porto! Perhaps because the main road doesn’t go through the village itself, I have just never had the time to make the detour before, but today was different and I was looking forward to seeing one of the emblematic sights of Corsica…



I wasn’t sure whether to follow signs for the village or the Rive Gauche, but in the end I needn’t have worried as they both end up at different ends of the waterfront. I headed down to the Rive Gauche which turned out to be the port side of the town. From here, a path leads to the beach on one side and the tower and the town on the other. The coastline in this area is more for discovering than swimming/sunbathing, so I crossed the little footbridge and headed into the town.



The Rive Gauche consists mainly of shops and stalls of a nautical nature; boat trips, diving, fishing and beach stuff and a smattering of hotels, but I was more interested in the tower which dominates the bay. Unlike most other Geneoese towers, the one at Porto is square and not round. I bought a combined ticket for the tower, heather museum and the Aquarium which cost 6.50€.



The heather museum turned out to be an old bergerie with fairly boring written information about the part heather has played in Corsican history, so I wasn’t that interested. However, the tower, like the one at Campomoro, has been arranged inside with colourful information panels and the view from the roof was amazing. It was a shame that it was a relatively hazy day as the colours were not as crisp and sharp.



I wandered through the town to the aquarium which was much better than the one at Bonifacio, and reminded me why we always used to pester our parents to take us to the Dolphinarium in Brighton when we were kids! It wasn’t huge, but I managed to see barracudas, moray eels, sars, lobsters and crabs as well as anemonies and other species that I don’t know the names of.





After lunch I headed up to the tourist office and managed to buy a leaflet of walks in the area including the nearby villages of Ota and Evisa, amongst others. It may have taken me 15 years to get here, but it won’t take another 15 years before I’m back!

Walking in Corsica - Evisa and the Foret d’Aitone

The road up to Evisa from Porto is very scenic, but full of potholes and wildlife, so take care! Having picked up a guide to the marked trails and walks in the area from the local tourist office, my main aim this afternoon was to walk up to the natural rock pools in the Aitone Forest which is an easy walk of an hour or so, following part of the ‘Mare a Mare’ walk up to the Col di Verghio.




It has been exceptionally hot the last few days and I’d run out of water so I decided to stop off first and fill up at the water fountain in the village. Evisa is a deceptively large and sprawling village, but I managed to find a parking spot in the centre just overlooking the church.



I could see the black clouds hovering overhead and was praying that the weather would hold, and as so often happens in Corsica it had cleared by the time I’d filled my water bottles. I took the time to wander through the village which seemed quite busy, and the caffé di a Posta in particular was full of Americans who, a bit like Withnail, seemed to have come on holiday to Evisa by accident if their conversation was anything to go by!



The walk starts about a mile or so out of the village heading in the direction of Vico, and it is easy to find as there are nearly always cars parked. The first trail you come to heading out of the village is ‘La Chataigneraie’ which is a nice walk lined with chestnut trees, heading back towards the village with some amazing views over the gorge. The second trail starts shortly after and heads down to the cascades. This walk starts as a wide path through the pines and ferns, with information posts along the way.



You soon come to a junction where you can head down to the first lot of little waterfalls, or continue on to the right following the orange waymarkers and the Mare a Mare Bocca di Verghju sign. The path here becomes more rocky and steeper, but brings you down to some pretty little cascades and flat rocks which if you can negotiate your way down, are ideal for sun bathing.



It was here that I was too busy looking at the scenery instead of where I was going and managed to twist my ankle and lose my footing, nearly pitching myself headforwards over the edge! I already had a gammy toe and a blister from wearing my walking shoes without socks earlier in the day (not clever!) so I was not best pleased.



Shortly after, the path reaches a section where you have to cross the gorge on a bridge suspended by wire with metal steps. The moment you put your foot onto one of the metal plates, the bridge starts to move and reminded me of yet another reason why I will never be on ‘I’m a celebrity, get me out of here’. At that point I decided that with my various injuries I should probably call it a day and head back.

Piana & the Calanches de Piana

I visited Piana many years ago on a work visit and vaguely remembered the pretty little village, but as I was in the area, I thought I’d stop off and wander round. The village itself is fairly small, but that didn’t seem to bother the three coach-loads of tourists who arrived shortly after me!



Life in Piana seems to centre around the pink and white church with intricately painted doors, and the small village square where there are a number of bars and restaurants covered with brightly coloured geraniums, ivy and palm trees. As well as the obligatory souvenir shop which was packed with French OAPs, there is a little bakery where the locals seem to spend a fair amount of time chatting and catching up on local gossip, so don’t expect to get served quickly!! From the car park there is a nice view of the village with the Calanches, but this morning they were shrouded in cloud.



Just 2km from the village is one of the most famous sites in Corsica and a UNESCO World Heritage site – The Calanches de Piana. The scenery was not at all how I remembered it, but perhaps even more awe inspiring with huge red granite peaks jutting up almost from nowhere.



The road through the Calanches is actually only about a mile, but it can take forever when it’s busy. Today we had to contend with coaches trying to navigate windy narrow stretches, tourists doing the same as I was (looking more at the scenery than where they are going), photographers stopping every two minutes and the odd goat/pig who wandered into the road!



One of the most famous ‘tafoni’ which is the name for rocks sculpted by the wind is the Tete du Chien (head of the dog), which is really only recognisable when you approach the Calanches from the Porto direction. If time permits, I’d recommend a round trip to really get the best from the visit. There are also a number of walks that start from the parking area at the Tete du Chien and the café Roches Bleues – some easy, some not so easy – so it was a shame I didn’t have more time.



Just as pretty but less well known is the route that continues on from Piana to Porto and then on to Evisa on the D84. Here the hillsides are covered with chestnuts and the verdent greenery offers a stark contrast to the red and grey granite peaks.

Walking in Corsica - Spelunca Gorge

I have wanted to walk the Spelunca Gorge for as long as I can remember. I first saw it from the road, but you really don’t get any idea of the sheer scale until you are on foot.



The gorge links the villages of Evisa and Ota via an old mule track which has now been restored using stones from the site and using the traditional methods. For the most part, the track is more a collection of rocks than a path so in many places you will find yourself walking like you are on stepping stones, but trust me, it’s worth it.



I chose to do the most picturesque section from Les Deux Ponts (follow the D124 to Ota and you can’t miss the starting point of two bridges) to the Pont A Zaglia which is an old Genoise bridge. The route follows the left side of the gorge, and I particularly liked the first section which was closer to the floor of the gorge and has good access to the lovely rock pools and mini-waterfalls as well as large flat rocks which many hikers were using to sunbath.





Of course I had forgotten to bring the guide with me so I had no idea how long the walk would take or ever roughly how far along I was, but between the two points took approximately 40 minutes going and a few minutes more to get back. The Pont A Zaglia is quite a feat of engineering for the time and I was miffed to find that the best spot for photos was already taken by some picnickers, so I had to content myself with scaling down the bank to the middle of the river to get the shot I wanted. One bloody leg and a grazed knee later, and I was on my way back.



This is a relatively easy walk for all the family if the kids are fairly agile (not one for tiny tots), and it was easy to find the way by either following everyone else – there were quite a few visitors even for early season – or the orange waymarkers or cairns. After the Pont A Zaglia, the route starts to climb up to Evisa, so this extension is probably more for the serious walkers/hikers.

Cargèse

It occurred to me today that there is no reason why I shouldn’t go away for the weekend (Wednesday and Thursday) even if only to another area of Corsica, so on a whim, I booked a hotel in Cargèse for the same day!



The idea was to take a picnic, drive up to Cargèse, stay overnight and then spend the morning exploring before heading up to the Calanches de Piana and Porto. This is an area I don’t know well as directCorsica don’t currently have any accommodation here, and the coast road is quite windy so you need at least a day or two to explore properly. Sadly during the afternoon the clouds arrived so I was hoping the weather would be clearer further north. Propriano to Cargèse takes about 2.5 hours so I stopped off at the Plage d'Esigne just before Sagone and ate my picnic dinner on the beach.



It was very hot and sticky, and looked like it might storm so I was glad of the strong breeze on the beach to cool me down. This stretch of coast has very strong currents so there are warnings posted on all the beach accesses, but there were still some stupid people allowing a small child to swim unsupervised. Perhaps this is why in France swimming pools have to be fenced to protect children from their parents inattention.



Cargèse is only about 15 minutes further on, so I’d arrived at the hotel by just after 7pm and still had a bit of time to explore before the sun started to set. Cargèse is unusual as it has two churches; one Greek and one catholic which are sited opposite each other with fab views of the sea and the raggedy coastline. Even more unusual is that the same minister presides over both churches! I wandered down to the churches where there is a lovely view over the port below. It’s a shame that it was still a bit hazy as I am sure in full sun the colours would be amazing.



There was also a very ancient tree with an amazingly thick knobbled trunk. It was lucky it was planted and Florence wasn’t with me as I felt sure she’d have tried to take it home to decorate her terrace! I think I am also being stalked by vintage car drivers (after my visit to Tizzano) as there were three or four ancient Fords parked in the car park of A Volta.





Cargèse has a big Greek influence and much like when I’d visited Cap Corse last April, I almost felt like I was in a little Greek village rather than in Corsica. I found the people a little less forthcoming than in other areas, but perhaps they were suspicious of me with my camera so early in the season. That said, the smattering of cafes and restaurants were busy with people chatting in the early evening sun, and from my room overlooking the main street I was able to discern a number of different accents from visiting tourists.



The town/village is actually much larger than I’d first imagined, so when I went to retrieve the car to find a more suitable parking spot, I discovered a number of souvenir shops, colourful houses and restaurants lining the route heading up towards Piana.



Busiest of all seemed to be the Restaurant ‘Le Saint Jean’ which seems to have been recommended many times by the Routard guide according to their advertising. Also busy was the ‘le Continental’ hotel/snack bar almost next door. They both have lovely views over the bay so perhaps next time I will try one of them. Just another good reason to return really!

When is a private beach not a private beach - when you're Indiana Jones!

There are no private beaches in Corsica, but there are a number that are only accessible by sea or by risking life or limb scaling sheer rock. The beach we visited today falls into this category and as we are lucky enough to know the proprietor of the land behind, we only had to hack our way through the overgrown path Indiana Jones style to reach our goal.



Our progress was only impeded when Florence thought she'd seen a huge snake which turned out to be a big dirty rope, which was lucky really as it was about 50km long and could easily have had the starring role in ‘Anaconda 2’. The water here is shallow and exceptionally warm so today, for the first time this year, I was tempted to swim. We collected shells, sea urchins and cuttle fish bones along the shore and ventured up as far as the rocks where there was an interesting little archway in the stone that makes a grotto.



It was too deep for Guillaume to walk through and I didn’t want to get the camera wet, so we had to content ourselves with taking photos from the side. Maybe next time we’ll venture further…