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Have Camera, Will Travel
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- Oct 28, 2006
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Day 9 -- Corsica
This morning we docked in Ajaccio, Corsica. Corsica is an island that is considered a region of France. It's also the birthplace of Napoleon. And they are very aware and very proud of that fact. There are several statues of Napoleon around the town. Our first stop was at a lovely plaza overlooking the Sea, with a large statue of -- yes, Napoleon!
As we all started taking pics, guess who came walking across the plaza? Yep! Napoleon! Yes, we all had our pictures taken with Napoleon. He looked pretty good, but the illusion was somewhat spoiled when he answered his cell phone... Ah, well! (I have to admit -- while I love any sort of group photo-op like this, and the weather was GORGEOUS, this particular activity was a little lame. Maybe kids like this sort of thing better? Or maybe the cell phone thing did it for me? Just not the best "special touch" I've seen. But again, seeing how much we all loved any photo-op, we all enjoyed ourselves anyways!)
Tina & Robyn pose ala Napoleon!
We then got back in our motorcoach, and headed up into the hills above Ajaccio.
We'd been warned that the roads would be twisty & turny. And oh, my gosh, they were! Those of us with motion sickness issues sat near the front of the bus. (There was a lot of jockeying for the front of the bus!) Oi! The bus driver had to do some seriously scary maneuvers with that huge motorcoach on some narrow roads. It took him 5 or 6 passes at least to make this turn...
We made a stop part-way up the hill, as one of the older kids felt seriously car sick. We all piled out of the bus and walked around for a while in the beautifully fresh air.
We got back on the bus, and continued up to the small hill town of Bastelica. Our first stop was in a cute little restaurant in a beautiful setting, where we had some antipasto (and wine for the adults) and Corsican biscuits. I liked the biscuits. They were closer to savory than sweet.
Once we were done there, we boarded a cute little train that took us into town.
We all thought the plaque and name on the train was really cute.
Our first stop in town was the town church. It was a pretty little church, with a lot of very nice stained glass windows.
As we were wandering around the church, taking pictures, looking at the decorations, it seemed that they were piping in some lovely a cappella singing.
(Click! It's a video!)
Suddenly, though, it became obvious that it was *live* music! 3 young Corsican men (OK, 3 young, CUTE Corsican men!) came out from behind the altar. They had been back there, singing. The acoustics in that church were amazing. They came up front; we all sat in the pews, and had a fabulous a cappella concert of beautiful Corsican music, while our local guide translated for us. That was quite a lovely treat! (I had just been capturing the church in that video. Didn't know I was also capturing our entertainment!)
After the concert, we all trooped back outside and onto the train.
The little train took us up, higher up the hill, and eventually to the Chez Paul, our restaurant for lunch. It was, yet again, a spectacularly gorgeous day. Blue skies, puffy white clouds. When we got out back, we found we were dining on a patio overlooking a beautiful, pastoral landscape. Wonderful!
Lunch was meat in a tomato sauce. Everyone said it was quite tasty; I had to have the sauce-less version. It was also good.
It was wonderful just sitting out on this patio, taking in the views, chatting, etc. This was a really laid-back day, and very refreshing and fun.
My artsy photo...
After lunch, we got back on the motorcoach and headed back down the hill. We passed an area where there were all these burial crypts, both in graveyards and some just by the side of the road. They are apparently pretty common.
We returned to the port with quite some extra time until all aboard. I wandered some of the shops near the port, bought a magnet & some postcards.
For some reason, this Corsican version of Fast Food seemed kind of funny to me!
I continued walking around the port area of Ajaccio, taking in the sights and checking out some shops as I walked.
Heheheh: Statue of guess who?
Continued below:
This morning we docked in Ajaccio, Corsica. Corsica is an island that is considered a region of France. It's also the birthplace of Napoleon. And they are very aware and very proud of that fact. There are several statues of Napoleon around the town. Our first stop was at a lovely plaza overlooking the Sea, with a large statue of -- yes, Napoleon!
As we all started taking pics, guess who came walking across the plaza? Yep! Napoleon! Yes, we all had our pictures taken with Napoleon. He looked pretty good, but the illusion was somewhat spoiled when he answered his cell phone... Ah, well! (I have to admit -- while I love any sort of group photo-op like this, and the weather was GORGEOUS, this particular activity was a little lame. Maybe kids like this sort of thing better? Or maybe the cell phone thing did it for me? Just not the best "special touch" I've seen. But again, seeing how much we all loved any photo-op, we all enjoyed ourselves anyways!)
Tina & Robyn pose ala Napoleon!
We then got back in our motorcoach, and headed up into the hills above Ajaccio.
We'd been warned that the roads would be twisty & turny. And oh, my gosh, they were! Those of us with motion sickness issues sat near the front of the bus. (There was a lot of jockeying for the front of the bus!) Oi! The bus driver had to do some seriously scary maneuvers with that huge motorcoach on some narrow roads. It took him 5 or 6 passes at least to make this turn...
We made a stop part-way up the hill, as one of the older kids felt seriously car sick. We all piled out of the bus and walked around for a while in the beautifully fresh air.
We got back on the bus, and continued up to the small hill town of Bastelica. Our first stop was in a cute little restaurant in a beautiful setting, where we had some antipasto (and wine for the adults) and Corsican biscuits. I liked the biscuits. They were closer to savory than sweet.
Once we were done there, we boarded a cute little train that took us into town.
We all thought the plaque and name on the train was really cute.
Our first stop in town was the town church. It was a pretty little church, with a lot of very nice stained glass windows.
As we were wandering around the church, taking pictures, looking at the decorations, it seemed that they were piping in some lovely a cappella singing.
(Click! It's a video!)
Suddenly, though, it became obvious that it was *live* music! 3 young Corsican men (OK, 3 young, CUTE Corsican men!) came out from behind the altar. They had been back there, singing. The acoustics in that church were amazing. They came up front; we all sat in the pews, and had a fabulous a cappella concert of beautiful Corsican music, while our local guide translated for us. That was quite a lovely treat! (I had just been capturing the church in that video. Didn't know I was also capturing our entertainment!)
After the concert, we all trooped back outside and onto the train.
The little train took us up, higher up the hill, and eventually to the Chez Paul, our restaurant for lunch. It was, yet again, a spectacularly gorgeous day. Blue skies, puffy white clouds. When we got out back, we found we were dining on a patio overlooking a beautiful, pastoral landscape. Wonderful!
Lunch was meat in a tomato sauce. Everyone said it was quite tasty; I had to have the sauce-less version. It was also good.
It was wonderful just sitting out on this patio, taking in the views, chatting, etc. This was a really laid-back day, and very refreshing and fun.
My artsy photo...
After lunch, we got back on the motorcoach and headed back down the hill. We passed an area where there were all these burial crypts, both in graveyards and some just by the side of the road. They are apparently pretty common.
We returned to the port with quite some extra time until all aboard. I wandered some of the shops near the port, bought a magnet & some postcards.
For some reason, this Corsican version of Fast Food seemed kind of funny to me!
I continued walking around the port area of Ajaccio, taking in the sights and checking out some shops as I walked.
Heheheh: Statue of guess who?
Continued below:
But yes, it does say "my trip is coming up soon! It's really going to happen!" 
Monaco was a great place to spend my Birthday!
That sunset was just spectacular! I do so love sunsets! 
I do love re-living the memories while writing these Reports. And then, later, I can re-read them, and relive it again! 
