BaroqueW

You may be wondering how we lived our lives on Corsica, far from our computers and cell phones. (Well okay, we had our phones, but I only turned mine on for 2 minutes to wish Jenny a happy birthday and then turned it off again super quick!)

Well first we had to take a boat with Corsica Ferries from Toulon (mainland France) to Ajaccio (on the island of Corsica). Since we were planning on getting around in the van Max’s oh-so-generous parents loaned to us, we needed to pull our van into the underbelly of the ship and park with cars wedged in all around us. Like sardines in a can.

The ferry took 10 hours there only 6 on the way back for some reason. Which gave us plenty of time to do… nothing. I did get a cute photo of Max sitting on a chair that looks like a jar of Nutella*. I’m not sure that qualifies as productive activity. It was easier to tolerate on the way TO Corsica, since we had a big lovely cabin to ourselves.Our lovely cabin with luxury view!

 

The cabin had 4 beds – the couch rolls around so that it becomes a bed, and there are two more beds folded into the walls as you can see, and a little writing desk. There was also a bathroom with a shower, toilet and sink. For the first time ever in our joint cruising experiences we got a window that was actually a window worth having. It was so peaceful looking out on the ocean. In the morning we could see the rocky islands begin to appear showing stark sheer cliffs. What a wonderful way to wake up. Even if they do require you to get out of the cabin at 6am.

Our first campground, Camping Barbicaja, was… well… uninspiring. It was well-shaded… but that’s about all I can was positive about it. There were herds of feral skinny cats running around. The ground was barren and hard, under the pine trees. The laundry drying line couldn’t dry anything, since the shading was so thick in our rock lined terrace/forest. The shower area was filthy and I kept my sandals on out of fear of planters warts – and the lights went out about 5 minutes after you press the button. You basically just have time to get to your shower stall and be half-naked when all goes dark.

Although the van was fitted with a mattress (quite ingeniously, actually, with storage under the mattress and shelves over the foot of the bed in the back) we had a tent which we set up to mark our place at the camping lot.

We stayed there out of pure laziness, really. We noticed that almost everyone camped around us only stayed for one night, which is never a good sign. After three nights, we finally decided we’d had enough. So while out on our “day trips” around the island, we randomly picked a camping place. When I say “randomly” what I really mean is that I told Max every single time we passed a camping place every day of the trip, and he decided that he would deign to go down a tiny little road out to a camping place not listed in our many many many travel guides. That camp ground, A Marina, turned out to be WONDERFUL.

It was only about 30 minutes from Ajaccio and far superior in every way. It had amenities we didn’t even dream of in our first hovel of a camping ground. They had a small store which sold, amongst other things, chilled rosé wine – a must in southern France – and ice-cream! They also had an on-site pizzeria/restaurant, a washer/dryer, clean brightly lit bathrooms, wide open fresh spaces for each lot and IT WAS ON THE BEACH!

You heard me! ON THE BEACH! We could listen to the ocean in our sleep, and take an after dinner stroll in the sunset dusted waters along the shore. It was our new base camp for the rest of the trip and I strongly recommend it to anyone who wants to go to Corisca!

*The picture is crooked because this computer refuses to turn images, it only turns them for the program, not the actual file. 

June 17th, 2009 | Posted by nikkitaa | Tags: camping, Corsica, ferry, France |

Category: Articles in English, Voyage / Travel | Comments (3)

While I would love to upload all the photos of all the animals, I’m extremely hindered by this extremely low quality computer connection. It seems that the camera is taking pictures that are of too good quality, it takes ages to try to convert them to something lower – and then they refuse to be adjusted. So pooh. It also somewhat dampens my idea of blogging every day and putting up pictures, since it takes hours and hours and hours of struggle to get anything up (no inuendo intended.)

But I will persevere! Inspired by the ever pervasive ants. The field outside of one of our campsites was literally crisscrossed with barren paths where the ants had cut a swath through it. 

That said: let the blogging begin!

Corsica was GREAT! Plenty of tiny winding roads, clear blue sea, tiny fishes (of which I have no pictures since I don’t have that kind of camera), goats, turtles, tortoises, churches, dragonflies, birds, cats, dogs, néolithique standing stones, boats, sand, pebbles, waterfalls, cliffs and CARS. Seriously, people park like madmen in Ajaccio. However, this particular little blog will focus on the animals.

As you may or may not be aware, Corsica is famous for its cheese, charcuterie, and wine. Quite a lot of that cheese comes from goats. Cute tiny little goats that are actually herded from pasture to pasture, across the tiny twisty Corsican road you’re trying to navigate with your giant camping van. And then they sneak off to the side of the gate to nibble on some tastey bushes before bleating and throwing themselves along with the rest of the herd. They’re adorable. Goat cheese is also my absolute favourite kind of cheese, possibly since I couldn’t digest regular milk as a baby and had goat’s milk instead. Mmmm unpasturized French goat cheese.

Another well-known delicacy is wild pig, which is not to be confused with wild boar as wikipedia does. Wild boar is sanglier, and they feature in the popular Asterix comic universe. Wild pigs, on the other hand, are called cochon sauvage and are much more closely related to domestic pigs than boars. They also seem to have a complete lack of fear for human beings, as this one digging around near a parking lot near Vizzavona. Some are only half-wild, and have been let loose to gorge on chestnuts, acorns and truffles to improve the quality of the meat.
 

People seem to let their dogs wander loose in the city, and the cats are nearly feral but quite happy to take a bit of your sausage. We found out that the cats at A Cupulatta – the City of Turtles, were actually put to good use as hunters to protect the tortoises from the ravages of rats while they hibernate.

The reserve is the center for breeding and protecting turtles and tortoises, as well as rescuing the illegally trafficed and healing the injured. 
You can also view the tiny baby turtles that are kept separately for their protection against predation. They’re so tiny and adorable, like itty bitty button helmets!

 

Of course, the park is not only a haven for useful cats and turtles. Birds, dragonflies, frogs and fish all make use of this refuge – as well as hot, sweaty followers of A’tuin!

One last creature has no name, because no one knows what in the heck it is. Is it even living? Thousands of them were floating around near the beach by Porto. After a lot of fear, I managed to get in the water with them – and don’t seem to have suffered any ill effects. But the weird little blue blobs were not fun to swim with and definitely spoiled the experience. At least they weren’t sharks! I had spotted a jellyfish out in the water, but these weren’t jellies.

If you know what they are, feel free to leave a comment!

June 15th, 2009 | Posted by nikkitaa | Tags: Corsica, France, tortoise, turtle |

Category: Articles in English, Voyage / Travel | Comments (7)

For our third day of adventuring we traveled to the petit village Pernes les Fontaines, which boasts.. as you might have guessed from the name.. an embarrassment of richess in the fountain department.

Ironically enough, this is the first year where all of my classes have actually been useful to me in one day. This term was spent studying French, museum science and included a five-week internship where my main responsibilities were the research and requesition around the theme of “laundry.” We visited a small private art exhibit, and one of the surviving lavoir left in France. Hurrah for classes you can make use of!

A lavoir is a public place in France that is set aside for washing clothes. They’re generally situated in conjunction to rivers or springs, and while not in use there are various community projects to support their restoration and care. As you can see, this one was in beautiful condition.

The art exhibit was titled L’art au donjon’ which I could describe with plenty of bullshit words I learned in my class – but I’d rather cut through all that and just say “it’s pretentious art made out of garbage”. Which isn’t to say that it’s bad, but let’s call the kettle black, shall we?

The exhibit with gigantic ants was my personal favourite. France is filled with ants. No one tells you that in the travel brochures.

Big giant ones too, although most aren’t as big as these ones, and they bite. Don’t believe anyone who tells you that they don’t because they DO!

The exhibit incorporated the entire building as a mode of display, using its degradation to enhance the mood of the exhibit. I’m sure I could write off a 20 page paper on the entire thing, but that would be as boring as technical articles no one understands. *cough cough* Unfortunately, it was situated throughout the path leading up to a clocktower and which meant you had to use very steep crumbling steps with very low sides.

To finish off our day, we indulged in gorgeous ice-cream/sorbet/nut/whipped cream/fruit creations at Isabella’s. It was fun, but I have to say I prefer the quality of the small shop called Patisserie Montero which may not be as flashy as Isabella’s, but the ice-cream and sorbets are mind-blowingly delicious. And she makes le vacherin (ice-cream cake)!

Max says: Click on the title of the article to see a map of Pernes les Fontaines in France.

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June 7th, 2009 | Posted by nikkitaa | Category: Articles in English, Voyage / Travel | Comments (7)

Rain…

It’s amazing how wherever I go on vacation- it rains. Always. It doesn’t matter where. Canada, USA, France, Malta, Japan, Denmark, Croatia… Even in Dubai, U.A.E.! It rained in the DESERT just to thwart me! Or perhaps I’m a”Quasi Supernormal Incremental Precipitation Inducer,” like the guy in Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy? Luckily, I don’t particularly mind the rain and got to snuggle up to my latest book, White Witch, Black Curse (witches, vampires, werewolves.. what’s not to like?)

Today was also a good day for hair-cutting. So my cuddle monkey is now a prickly hedgehog His dad buzzed enough hair off him to make an entire Lhasa Apso. He offered to cut my hair as well, but I declined his generosity.

We also took the van out for a mini-drive, so Max can get a feel for it before we borrow it to go to Corsica. Unfortunately, Max cannot open the door to the van. That would hamper our plans to use the van for transport and camping, except I seem to have no problems at all opening the doors. It’s a good thing I wasn’t supposed to drive though, because I’d had more wine with lunch than I meant to and my lips were numb. (Someone kept refilling my wine glass!)

To finish off our day were the best part of France – the most delicious individually packed “desserts” in existence. I had a tiny mini Tarte Citron meringuée, and Max had a MaronSuis‘, which is a delicious whipped chestnut cream so beloved that it has it’s own facebook group. People rave about French cooking, and yes French food is wonderful. But how do they make these delicious beautiful little meringuée pies in their tiny little individual packages?

June 5th, 2009 | Posted by nikkitaa | Category: Articles in English, Voyage / Travel | Comments (6)