Mediterranean paradise

Napoleon would close his eyes and, wherever he was, smell the maquis again, the scents of his Corsica. This paradise so close to home leaves mimosa, eucalyptus, cork plantations, stretches of sand, rocks and forests in your eyes. We have been to Corsica several times, always camping and then moving from one beach to the next; this island is made for an itinerant holiday, there is everything to see and discover. My children went back in 2006, and I put together a little collage of photos. There is so much to see. On the east coast: St.Florent, from a viewpoint you can make out both coasts; Patrimonio, with a beautiful church; S.Michele Murato with its architectural treasures; Bastia, the arrival point from Italy, where you first glimpse signs of Napoleon's constant presence.

Heading south: Aleria, with its ruins and castle; then Ghisonaccia, Quercioni, a beach that stays lonely even in August; Solenzara and the chestnut coast; Scaffa Rossa with its multicoloured pebbles and velvety sand. Going back up the Solenzara river you find pools to bathe in. Even further south: Pinarello, with its pinewood by the sea; S.Cipriano, a splendid round bay surrounded by reddish rocks; Golfo di Sogno with its thousand shells; Santa Giulia, beautiful and chic, with impalpable sand; Santa Manza, with a beach made of tiny shells; Palombaggia and Cala Rondinara, stunning blends of colour. Then Porto-Vecchio, a town full of traffic but with picturesque alleys and romantic little restaurants.

Bonifacio, beautiful, with the fearsome staircase of the King of Aragon (which many years ago, with the children still small, we climbed at high noon, a passage sheer above the sea, set against the rocks, without a breath of wind and with the sun beating down hard……why was there no one else around at that hour?). From here the boat trip departs, to explore the caves; from one of them you glimpse an opening shaped like the island itself. The Eremitage de la Trinitè is lovely, with a view over Bonifacio. From Bonifacio the excursion to the island of Lavezzi departs, with rocks smoothed by the wind and perhaps a few too many tourists; on the way back you skirt the island of Cavallo. On the other coast, Ajaccio, and here there is only and always him, Napoleon, with beautiful beaches at Rupione and Agosta.

Inland, the Piscia di Gallo waterfalls, the Restonica valley, Corte the ancient capital, the Vizzavona forest with its small dark pigs roaming free, and the col de Bavella with its peaks. Perhaps August isn't the ideal month, there are crowds, as everywhere, but by looking for the lonely little beach you can still find one. I'm missing the whole western part towards the north, with the calanques, Calvi and L'Isle Rousse; who knows, maybe in the end we'll go back, the memories I keep of this paradise close to home are wonderful.