The Napoleonic Corniche road around Cap Corse (24th – 27th May)

The drive from St Florent to the start of the road that hugs the coast of Cap Corse (Corsica’s ‘finger’ at its top end) started to get interesting as we headed north from Patrimonio (Santa Maria) and crossed our first ever road bridge made of timber, and with only one vehicle allowed on it at a time! We didn’t get a photo as there was nowhere to pull over – a foretaste of the route to come! Soon we were winding our way up, traversing crystal clear streams making their way to the sea, with an abundance of colourful flowers growing along their banks.

As the road began to climb, snaking its way along the cliffs, we were treated to a variety of different types of beaches and coves, including this one which had turned grey as a result of pollution from amianthus mining up the coast. Used in the manufacture of asbestos, huge amounts were dumped in the sea when the industry collapsed as a result of cheaper Canadian imports, not only decimating the marine life, but turning the beaches grey for years to come. We didn’t stop for a paddle…

As with much of the coastline, there was also a succession of Genoese lookout towers, still standing watch despite the passing centuries.

As we drove through the tiny villages that are now mainly tourist honey-pots, with most of the activity in each centred around feeding and watering the many travellers exploring the twists and turns of the coast road, we were struck at how isolated these communities must have been when there was only the original commerce that led to their creation; sometimes mining, or sometimes fishing. By the time we’d found somewhere safe to pull in after seeing the small harbour in the next photo, we couldn’t tell whether this was a mining or fishing village, but according to our Rough Guide, it would have been one or the other.

Most of these little villages on the west coast followed a similar pattern, with houses strung out away from a harbour and almost always topped by a church. We also expected there to be a cemetery close by, with the dead given the best views of all, as is customary – but not here on Corsica, where the custom seems to be that families buy a small plot of land at the edge of a usually very precipitous cliff, and build a family mausoleum, with much of the roadside between villages given over to a succession of funerary competitiveness with each family trying to outbuild the next. As with the wooden bridge, we weren’t able to get a photo as the roads had very few passing places – but think of your favourite showy Victorian tombs and spread them out along a cliff edge and you’d get the idea!

One of the places we’d chosen to head to on this coast, hopefully for a lunch stop, was Centuri Port, apparently one of the top places to go to on the coastal route. As we turned off the ‘main road’ onto a tiny narrow track, we were expecting a tricky descent down to the port, until suddenly the road widened, and it was clear that it had been recently asphalted to allow easy access, in peak season we found out, for many coach tours! Luckily, all we had to cope with was one cautiously negotiated blind bend after another – and no coaches!

As we neared the port itself, we spotted a few campers parked up and just in time pulled into a vacant space, at the same time as we saw a height barrier a little further up the road. Although not anti-campervan per se, much of the coastline near any popular destination on Corsica has been made campervan free, making parking our 7m beast a bit of a challenge now and again. (We found out later that much of the introduction of height barriers and other restrictions only dates back to about 2010, after the number of campers looking for an overnight stop had grown exponentially.)

The port centre itself was pretty busy, but away from the harbour-side eateries, we enjoyed an interesting explore of the back streets, with a quirky charm that offset the intensity of the centre, including one house where the owners had decorated the perimeter with heart shaped rocks … however others had a less romantic approach, which included a resident donkey…

After a surprisingly fast return to the main road from Centuri and rejoining the Corniche heading north, we soon realised we were crossing the northernmost part of Corsica as we sighted Giraglia island from a roadside vantage point.

Dropping down towards the port town of Macinaggio where we hoped to replenish our supplies before heading for our next stop at Pietracorbara, we were suddenly faced with a roadblock and a diversion that took us on a very scenic, and narrow route in a giant loop before we were able to rejoin the Corniche again on the outskirts of Macinaggio. More than a little hot and sweaty after the bonus loop, we stopped off to have a wander and restock, including some of the local Muscat made nearby.

As we wandered around the port, it became clear what the cause of our detour had been – the Giraglia rally – a famous race over public roads that was due to start at the weekend, with our detour organised to allow the drivers a chance to practice. Grateful we’d missed the congestion of the actual race days (and reminded of a similar experience in Cataluña some years ago, where we experienced cars practising on the roads whilst they were still open to the public!) we reached our destination at last – camping Domaine LP in Pietracorbara north of Bastia, set back from a nearby beach and with a heated pool – perfect for an unwind!

The campsite was an interesting mix of free camping in a large field (where we went) and a series of what could only be described as maze-like hedged hideaways, perfect for anyone seeking privacy (the hedges were a good three metres high).

After enjoying a lazy stay here for a few days, enjoying the pool, the open space and dark skies at night, we wondered how far we’d need to travel around Corsica until we found a beach that hadn’t had a recent visit from the Posidonia weed – clearly not here! Not only was it stacked all along the shore line, but the first few metres of sea were pretty gloopy – so we enjoyed our swimming in the pool instead.

Interestingly, all the access points to the beach for parking had signs like this one – no campervans thanks!

And a special shout here for our friend Giselle who made the window blinds in the next photo that are great for allowing ventilation without heat when the sun is beating down on the window. We’d seen these on many campers from mainland Europe but not managed to track down a supplier – luckily Giselle was able to make us a set to our design – and they have been brilliant!

Realising we would need to plan the next stage of our trip to allow for a bit more exploring before heading off to Sardinia, we settled on Alèria, site of a major Roman town (with ruins and museum for Mr B) and adjacent to a long and very picturesque looking sandy beach, hopefully free of weed!

S&J