Alèria was on our Corsican itinerary
as Mr B had read about the Greco/Roman site and museum there and, fired up by
our last island adventure on Sicily in 2015, visiting one of Corsica’s most
famous Roman sites was high up his list of must-dos.
However, as anyone who has
visited Italy or Sicily will know, it’s a very hard act to follow and a bit of
expectation management was in order… especially after the menhirs of Filitosa...
Located a short cycle ride
away from our campsite (Marine Alèria) we arrived at the ticket booth in the
museum (housed in a very imposing Genoese bastion, Fort Matra) to discover that
entry was free, rather than the €3 each we were expecting to pay. Perhaps this
should have told us something…
The museum housed a wide
range of artefacts excavated from the Roman site (most of which is still
buried), including Hellenic, Punic and Attic ornaments, household goods and
weapons. Most interesting, and entertaining though for us, was a bowl featuring
Dionysus, clearly having a good time…
Coming a close second, was a
‘rhyton’ or drinking vessel in the shape of a dog’s head…
The expanse of the Roman
site itself however, lacked just a little of the scale and majesty we’d seen at
other Mediterranean locations, and although we enjoyed a peaceful wander around
the site and admired the views back to the fort and the coast, it lacked some
of the wow factor that Mr B had clearly prepared himself for, and the cycle
back featured more conversations about dinner rather than ancient monuments!
The campsite itself more
than made up for any archaeological disappointments, nestled as it was between
a sandy beach and hectares of vineyards, and we were fortunate to spend a few
very enjoyable days there. The beach was long, sandy and dotted with some
amazing driftwood deposits, including some truly enormous ones!
On one of the less sunny
days we cycled along the dunes to the end of the lagoon that lay to the north
of the site, the l’Ètang de Diane, to explore the ‘Tour’ that guarded the inlet
to the lagoon. Pushing our trusty folding bikes to their design limits on the
rutted sandy tracks along the dunes, Mrs B celebrated our safe arrival at the
Tour in proper off-road style…
As we returned along the
dunes, we noticed one or two spots that might be perfect for a wild camp…
The lagoon was used by the
Romans as a harbour for a fleet at the time Alèria was the Roman capital of
Corsica, and has been a centre for cultivating oysters and mussels for over
2000 years. Napoleon allegedly had his favourite molluscs shipped over to Elba
when he was in exile, but having sampled the mussels here, all we can say is he
probably didn’t visit the Baie de la Somme, where we still think the best
mussels in France can be found!
We tried the Étang mussels
at the campsite restaurant, with perhaps the best part of the evening being the
moonlit sky as we returned to our van... oh well! Watching a full moon over the
sea is always quite special, and this night was no different, as the light
cloud gave it a magical appearance.
Although the weather was
mixed for our stay, with sun and cloud competing for our attentions
interspersed with bouts of heavy rain, we were treated to some amazing starry
nights, moonlit beaches and an opportunity to get chatting to our two really friendly
‘motard’ neighbours, Catherine and Djamel, travelling by motorbike and camping
light, as we lent them our beach brolly to help keep the rain off their dinner
one evening – A bientôt mes amis!
Having wanted to get his hair
cut when we were in Calvi, but fearful that he may have ended up with a
military Foreign Legion crew cut (more fitting on the buff young legionnaires!)
Mr B decided to put his limited French to use and cycled off into the nearest
town one morning to try his luck. Returning with a close approximation to his
usual ‘style’ and a lucky linguistic escape over the numbers used with electric
clippers, he could now add French/Corsican to his growing number of Euro-haircuts!
Bidding farewell to Catherine
and Djamel as we left the campsite on the same day, we decided on the spur of
the moment and basking in the not-seen-for-a-while sun, to explore up the coast
for a possible free camp in one of the locations we’d seen on our bike ride. As
we left our pitch, the snow capped mountains in the interior were just visible
in the distance, not something we’d expected at all and quite a contrast to the
sun drenched vineyards!
And after an amazing visit
in the morning to La Ferme Sorbelle (see separate entry) we tucked ourselves in
by the low dunes, on an almost deserted beach where we spent a fabulous last
afternoon in Corsica. As we had a ferry booked for an 0630 sailing, free
camping meant that we were able to head off in the early hours without
disturbing anyone, and the beach seemed like a better alternative to just
parking up at the port in Porto Vecchio.
So with the setting sun
visible from our camper window, and with our first sighting of an enormous wild
boar rootling in the vegetation not five metres from the van, we treated
ourselves to a hot van-shower (it’s small but perfectly formed – and worked a
treat!) and dinner, and then settled in for a short night (alarm set for 0230!)
before the drive to the port, with just the sound of the sea lapping on the
sandy shore – perfect!
Woken by both our phone
alarms and their competing tunes in the dead of night, we enjoyed an almost
vehicle free drive down to Porto Vecchio, arriving with plenty of time to
spare, only to find the port all locked up and no other vehicles – or sign of
any life at all, let alone a waiting ferry… Had we got the time wrong, or were
we at the wrong embarkation gate for our boat?
S&J
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