Another Citadel, Another City…

Bonjour Famille et Mes Amies,

When last we wrote, Nancy & I were in Bastia for another day or so. We are really enjoying this slow method of travel through Corsica.

<< Our Corsica agenda is a week in Bastia (northeast), another week in Calvi (in the northwest where we are currently) then another week in Porto-Vecchio on the southeast coast. Heck, we even have two days after P-V before flying out. If any of you have experience in Corsica and have a suggestion where to spend those last two nights, we will be happy know them.>>

Here is our map and towel – dual purpose. Not great for driving but pretty good at drying and not wasting paper – good for the planet.

The beauty of slowly learning an area is we do not have to rush hither, thither & yon. That will stop for us though in our next several places on mainland Europe. C’est la vie.

Here are a few last day Bastia photos – food first including amazing ceviche and butternut mousse –

Before we left Bastia, at the local museum (in the Citadel of course) Nancy met her Corsican hero – the man who invented Cap Course Mattei Rouge & Blanc. This has become her sundowner beverage of choice – even better than Aperol!

On our drive to Calvi, we saw some beautiful scenery

We stopped in Sainte Florent (just another beautiful seaside village) for a delicious lunch and to sit out a torrential downpour – or as the French say “a deluge!) A note on our weather so far: very little rain (other than the above), fairly warm days with a couple very windy ones. Had I not forgotten to pack a light jacket, I would not have had to buy a Corsica sweatshirt!

We are now in Calvi which is another Citadel town – I guess when you steal someone’s island, you need to build all sorts of fortifications to keep the conquered from taking it back. It is a remarkable Citadel regardless – they certainly built the things to last. When you think that these took up to 300 years to complete, Sound Transit in Seattle taking 10 years to build a few train tracks is nothing!

Speaking of Citadels, faithful readers will know we are all about ABC – Another bloody – Church, Cathedral, Cloister & Chateau. Now we can add CITADEL! There is even another one coming up in P-V.

Here it is in all of its awesome glory….

We saw in a glacé (ice cream) shop this photo from the early 1900s. I tried to duplicate it. I think I did a pretty good job. Good thing the Citadelle has not been disneyfied!

Here is the view from our Calvi apartment:

One of the reasons we are renting apartments in many of our stops is to have a kitchen. We both really like other people cooking for us but not 3 meals a day, everyday for 3 months! This way we are at least preparing breakfast most mornings. Having a meal at home while watching the action in the harbor has been a perfect way to start our days.

The winds died down and the temperature has gone up – perfect for exploring by foot this beautiful hill town. (Did they never build towns on the plains?)

Late one morning we took the one car train on a 40 minute coastal ride to the smaller but no less noteworthy town of L’Île-Rousse. It was a lovely ride very close to the beach and shoreline for most of it. The town has some great white sand beaches. We wandered around, had lunch, a perambulation on the promenade and then took the train most of the way back. We exited a few stops from DT Calvi to stroll some more beach.

This Monsieur was preparing a huge leg of veal for his restaurant. It looked and smelled great – I’m sure it was delish but we found the first place in France we saw that serves Quinoa. We ate there. Yum?

Back in Calvi we wandered the Citadel a few more times – it just goes on & on. We found out that contrary to all we learned about Chris Columbus, he was born in Calvi – in a small house in the Citadel – not Genoa. However since Corsica was part of Genoa…

We found a nice little ice cream detour spot and Nancy snapped this photo from their window – it looks like a cartoon or a watercolor painting but it is an untouched iPhone snap!

What kind of Citadel does not have picnic tables and a very hip nightclub (named after my little brother) that does not open until 10pm?

We all know a good Citadel needs at least one church. This one has a few but only one was open to us: Sainte John le Baptiste.

There is even a unit of the Foreign Legion barracked in the Citadel – still!

Okay – I KNOW I have a lot of citadel photos here. But in my defense, it is a very impressive place, I have a great camera and I get pleasure from using it. That said – here are some more and that will be the last of them!

The third big attraction in Calvi, in no particular order with the Citadel and beach, is the bustling harbor side restaurants, cafes and excursion companies. More on the food in a bit (of course). Nancy & I went on a boat tour of the Golf of Calvi. It was a gorgeous day and we saw up close the ragged coastline, a cave and beautiful blue water. Even a couple dragons and a Bond villain looking house that is actually a Marine Research Center.

A short video form the boat

Another excursion was a dive (or “plonge” in French.) I had read about this dive site and was thrilled to be able to dive it. On February 14, 1944 an American B-17 had to ditch in the water right by the Citadel after losing 3 of its 4 engines. The crewmen who were alive before the forced landing survived it. Three crew members were killed by the German fighters shooting at the plane.

Here is a plaque posted at the Citadel:

I have an underwater (sous marine) camera but it only works to a maximum 50 feet down. The plane is at 27m which is @ 90 feet. I’m glad I did not have a working camera though as I was freed up to wonder at this site. There were many fishes, we saw bullet holes in the fuselage, a tire still on the retracted landing gear, the cockpit seats and the top gunner’s post. The expertise of the 22 year old pilot to put the dying aircraft down safely is mind-blowing. There are even .50 caliber machine gun bullets secreted by the dive operators that they show to the divers then replace.

I found this blog site from a diver who was here about a year ago. He goes into great detail with quotes from the airmen, photos and video from his dive on the wreck. If you are interested, please read it. (If you have the technical skills to help me, I would like to contact the writer but cannot get the links in his post to go anywhere.)

https://midlifecrisisodyssey.com/diving-the-ghosts-of-corsica-part-ii/

OK – I know you have all been waiting to learn about the Calvian Cuisine. Choose your adjective – delicious, amazing, sublime, magnifique, inspiring…

We found a fromagerie (cheese shop does not seem fancy enough to describe “Le Bistrot des Fromagers”). The lunch was huge – as you can see. We took leftover meats, bought some eggs (very fresh) and the Cheesemonger tossed in a chunk of Comté cheese for breakfast next morning, complimentary!

Here are some more foodie pics.

Thye 3rd pic is sushi French style. What is that you ask? Why it is Foie-Gras Sushi!!!

The harbor front I mentioned? Here are a few snaps – this is a great place for morning cafe, sunset beverage, and dinner. People watching is tres bon, too.

The foam looks sort of like Corsica

We are able to get by with our basic language skills and translate apps help. This photo is the translation of a sign in a shop window.

Speaking of signs – the one on the left is fun and the right one shows French and dialect (but not the Corsican language).

Some random pics to finish off this chapter:

Comme on dit en France……. à la prochaine fois!

Okay – one last Citadel pic.