Corsica

During my All-Saints vacation I spent a week traveling through Corsica. I had many pleasant surprises.
 The scenery was fantastic. In the lower altitudes it's mostly bush land but in the hills there are forests of taller pine trees. We could often see the ocean and snow covered mountains in the same view.    The ocean is very beautiful. The water is very clear.  On a boat trip we could see the seafloor through many meters of water.

    The Corsicans love their land and take care of it. There is no garbage on the ground.

    All along the coast there are many small, isolated, beautiful bays. The only way to get to them is by boat that is why in all the towns there are many sailboats at dock.

    All along the coast you can see some of the nine hundred watch towers dating from the period when Corsica was often attacked by pirates.

    I walked on some of the GR20 footpath. It is a famous track that crosses all Corsica. The walk was very difficult but the scenery was very rewarding.

    I went to Bonifacio which is on the extreme southern coast. From there we could see Sardinia very well, only nine kilometers away (six miles). The city is built on a huge limestone cliff.   There is a huge stairway carved into the cliff that goes from the city down to the water.   Legend says that King Louis of Aragon possessed all of Corsica except Bonifacio.  He laid siege to the fortified city.  Before their resistance he decided to build a stairway on the cliff to climb up the wall to the city in one night!  In the morning when they were two meters from the city some ladies heard the picks and sounded the alarm.  But in reality it was built by the Bonifaciens to have access to the fresh water spring next to the ocean.

It was a wonderful trip on a wonderful island.  I'm so glad about all I did but there are surely many more things to discover there.

James B