September 25 Ajaccio, Corsica

The Edge travelled across the Tyrrhenian Sea overnight passing through the Strait of Bonifacio then proceeding north along the west coast of the French island of Corsica, to the island’s capital city. The Edge was docked in Ajaccio at Port Tino Rossi which also is home to a marina capable of berthing almost 300 yachts and small boats. Passengers could start exploring Ajaccio (pronounced Ah-JAK-see-oh) leaving the ship before 8 a.m. Ajaccio is the birthplace of Napoléon Bonaparte. Napoléon rose to the rank of Brigadier General during the French Revolution in the 1790s and went on to declare himself Emperor of France in the first decade of the 1800s.

We ate breakfast in the Elite category designated breakfast restaurant, Le Grande Bistro on deck 4. We were the only guests in the restaurant until a woman came in as we left. Our waiter informed us that the ship was less than half full at just over 1,250 guests. The ship’s double capacity is 2,918 and full capacity with a third or fourth person in a room or suite is 3,405. The last voyage was full. We took a photo of a ship model created from pearls called “Hands Off My Pearls”. It is today’s art of the day. We decided to climb the stairs to deck 14 to see the jogging track and take pictures of the old town of Ajaccio. We found the roof top garden which houses the outdoor movie screen. This helped us decide to take our jackets and umbrellas for our wander of the old town area. On our way off the ship we stopped at the Concierge desk to give Ednalyn our flight information to arrange which shuttle we would board to go to the airport next Sunday when the cruise ends.

Ednalyn had mentioned that there was a local tour called Le Petit train, which would give us a taste of the island. We timed the walk to the ticket office located in Place Maréchal Foch, with 10 minutes to spare for the 10 a.m. tour on a miniature train engine trolley which pulls three open air covered wagons with five rows of seats each. There were over 40 passengers. We started and briefly stopped at the other end of Place Foch to photograph from the train the fountain depicting Napoléon Bonaparte as a Roman emperor and the Legion of Honneur plaque. It was created by a famous Italian sculptor. A few streets further the train briefly paused at Place Générale de Gaulle for people to photograph the statue of Napoléon on horseback surrounded by his four brothers, Joseph, Lucien, Louis and Jérôme. The plaza recognizes Charles de Gaulle’s second World War work with the French Resistance.

In the next block, there was another brief pause to photograph the gardens of the Bishop’s residence built in 1860. Then there was a 15 minute stop at La Grotte Napoléon to see another statue of Napoléon at the top of a 12 meter high pyramid style base built into a hillside. It is part of a park with fenced areas of flowering bushes. We proceeded along a street known for its boulevard of orange trees and continued past Ajaccio’s Ancien Cimetière. It has many small mausoleums set out in a street like pattern. We did not stop here. The train then drove 15 kilometers into rural Corsica to the Îles Sanguinaire. We passed Marinelle Beach, named after Tino Rossi’s first hit song in 1936. Nearby is the former villa of Tino Rossi (1907 –1983). He was a French singer and film actor of Corsican origin, famous in French language countries prior to World War 2. He enabled the French Resistance during that war.

The Îles Sanguinaire are an archipelago of four granite rock islands. There was also a 15 minute stop here in a parking lot with many cars and two other tour buses transporting Edge sightseers. Across the road, from the parking lot, is Petit Capo Beach. It is a course sand beach with small boats bobbing in the bay of the Gulf of Ajaccio. There is a lookout tower, known as La Pointe de la Parata, dating back to mid 1550s, when Corsica was occupied by the Republic of Genoa. It is closest to the parking lot, about 600 meters away and 12 meters high. Furthest away from the parking lot is a lighthouse built in the late 1840s.

The return back to Ajaccio took the same road to enter the town. A gas station we passed was selling regular gas for € 1.588 per liter ($2.09 Cdn). Once in town we followed a different route to the old town, passing the Ajaccio Cathedral, officially the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption of Ajaccio, where Napoléon Bonaparte was baptized. We passed the star shaped Ajaccio Citadel which was started in 1492 by the Genoese to protect the area from sea attacks. Then down Roi de Rome street with buildings dating from the sixteenth century. The narrow mini train, only two meters wide, threaded along the street. We turned on to Bonaparte street and saw the house where Napoléon’s family and ancestors lived throughout the 1700s. It is now Maison Bonaparte National Museum. We were back to the Place Maréchal Foch ticket office passing the port which is known as Port Tino Rossi. We walked back to the first few pauses on the train, to get better photos then walked back the one kilometer to the ship. We took a photo of a bakery called L’atelier Papilles. We paused to quickly browse the Sunday Market inside and outside of the City Market at the end of the pier where the ship was docked.

Back onboard we stopped at Café al Bacio for a cappuccino before continuing up seven flights of stairs to drop off our gear before climbing two flights to select lunch at the Oceanview Café buffet. We selected photos for yesterday and today’s entries so that Larry could go to the Chamber of Commerce building for complimentary Wi-Fi for tourists. The faster speed made uploading about 45 pictures a breeze. The afternoon had seen the sun break through, but there were dark clouds hovering over the nearby hills.

Mid-afternoon, there was a brief sun shower as we sat on our balcony. The window started to rise, since the captain can control the balcony windows from the bridge if conditions so dictate. We did not think that we needed to close the window since there is a three meter overhang from the deck above and no rain was coming into our balcony. After the shower, there was a pretty rainbow on the hills across the bay. The window was locked, the photo was taken through glass. Within a few more minutes we were able to lower the window again.

The ship left Ajaccio at 5:30 p.m. The dress code tonight was Evening Chic which three years ago was defined as date night dress up. Suit or sports and ties for men and cocktail dresses, pantsuits or gowns for women. Now the dress code is no ripped jeans, shorts, flip-flops or sports caps, sports coat optional for men. Dress pants & blouse, skirt of dress for women. The evenings are not as elegant as the were ten years ago. After dinner at a table for two by the window at the Tuscan Dining Room, we went to the 7:30 production show featuring the singers, dancers and acrobats team called Kaleidoscope. We needed our earplugs to reduce the music volume. We stopped at Café al Bacio for a decaf cappuccino before returning to our room to finish the daily entry. The live music venues are not designed for dancing on this ship. However, there may be recorded ballroom dance music in The Club tomorrow at 7 pm. We would be just returning from a 9 hour excursion if the forecast rain and thunderstorms do not interfere with the excursion.

Forecast for Portofino tomorrow is 40 to 55% chance of showers. then 60% chance of thunderstorm from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Total steps 16,191

Aside: Hurricane Fiona has hit the Maritimes and Newfoundland & Labrador after damaging Puerto Rico and Bermuda as a Category 4. It is now a Post Tropical Cyclone as it heads into the northern Atlantic. Italy is holding national elections today. Results should be known on Monday.