September 2007
Day 8 - Wednesday, September 26, 2007
We awoke at 6:45a to a cloudier than usual day, tied up at the pier in Ajaccio, Corsica. Knowing less about Corsica than any of our other ports-of-call, I did a little reading. These people have been invaded and conquered by just about every aggressor state for the past 9,000 years. They are presently owned by France, but the French are only the last in a long line of invaders:
- Torreens
- Greeks
- Romans
- Vandals
- Goths
- Byzantines
- Langobards
- Moors
- Genoese
- French
Tough going for the Corsicans. There are only the about 250,000 Corsi (native Corsicans) and many are anxious for independence. There's a symbol you see everywhere of a silhouette of a Moor with a red headband, the symbol for the independence movement:
What's Corsica famous for? It's the birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte. Corsica is to Napoleon what Tupelo, Mississippi was to Elvis: Born there, returned to visit only once in his lifetime.
Of course, Corsica tourism is making hay with their favorite son. More about that later.
While waiting for our tour to assemble I took this picture of the Century so I could point out where (what Gael calls) our state-closet is located:
We met today's tour-guide, Jacqueline:
..and boarded our bus for the "Scenic Tour of Corsica".
There's a coastal highway that runs along most (all?) of the perimeter of Corsica. The Corsi have a great interest in preserving their history and, along the highway are modern buildings but, between the new construction and the coast highway are cemetaries, hundreds of years old. It was the fashion for familes to create small "chapels" to hold their dead since the granite-based soil was so difficult to dig through. Hundreds of these family chapels can be seen along the road:
  
Sorry about the "from the bus" photos; we're moving at 40+ mph
Some miles out from Ajaccio we arrived at the first of our three stops on the tour. Earlier invaders built watchtowers in which they'd set fires when the next batch of invader ships were seen. This let the Corsi know when the newest threat to their way of life came over the horizon:
This is a lighthouse, watchtower on the right 
For the grandboys: This was a particularly windy day, temperature in the high 60s. But WINDY!
Diddie's getting blown nearly off her perch!
Our second stop was at the largest statue of Napoleon on the island (and, as you might expect, there are many!). This one was erected in 1938:
The pillars carry the dates of his birth and death. 
How's your French?
There are some olive trees surrounding the pedestal; these will be ready
to harvest in January
NOTE: Go back and look at the closeup of the statue. See anything wrong?
Our final stop was at the Ajaccio Cathedrale where Napoleon (of course) was baptized at age two. It re-opened to visitors for the afternoon just as we got there:
    
We were released from our tour and walked about for a while in Ajaccio.
Gael particularly liked the look of this modern building; it looks like it belongs here:
It was a half-mile walk back to the pier. We boarded and spent several relaxing hours at lunch and lying on deck lounges with our books, Cokes and iPods.
We sailed at 5pm; here's a departing view of Ajaccio as we chugged out into the Med:
Nice, huh?
And then things turned ugly.
I am (well-known to be) a poor sailor. I've been known to get seasick in a bathtub (under the right circumstances). Gael? No problem - ever.
Until today.
Windy on Corsica = windy at sea. Windy at sea = significant swells.
I found it unpleasant. This is a big ship but it is as susceptible to rolling with the waves as any other boat. I found it unpleasant -- but it didn't make me ill. On the other hand..
Gael began her first (ever) bout with mal-de-mer at about 7pm. We were talking about getting dressed for the second "formal attire" dinner and she said she wasn't looking forward to it. And then she raced to the bathroom to contribute lunch, breakfast, last night's dinner, etc., etc. to the porcelain receptacle. Fortunately, because the state-closet is so small, she made it there in good time. When she returned to bed:
Notice that, while ill, her jewelry is still in place.
And this continued all night long. It's why this day's report is so late.
Me? I'm fine, thanks for asking.
Day after tomorrow we'll arrive in Valencia and GET OFF THE BOAT! I'm hoping she'll be OK by then ...
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