Beautiful Bonifacio!

Monday October 7 started with some rain in Ajaccio and ended with beautiful sun and summer weather in Bonifacio with a high of 25C.   We had to catch an 8:30 a.m. bus from Ajaccio.  Another early morning for us.  Luckily the bus station was only about a 10 minute walk from our apartment.  We got there a bit early before 8:00 a.m., as the tourist office had said that the bus could get full and that it would be better to get there a bit early.  One can only.buy tickets on the day of travel from the bus driver.  Luckily, Monday was not a problem and most people got to the bus with only minutes to spare. 

It started to rain just as we were leaving Ajaccio and it rained for about half of the trip.  The bus was due to arrive in a small town called Figari (near the airport for Bonifacio) at 11:15 a.m. and then we were to transfer to another bus that would be leaving as we arrived.  It was then only a 15 minute ride to Bonifacio.  The tourist office said that the second bus would wait until our bus from Ajaccio arrived.  It turned out we were about 45 minutes behind schedule getting to Figari, as we had to backtrack down a street in one of the towns we passed through due to construction blocking the narrow street!   Fortunately, the driver of the second small bus was waiting for us and we proceeded to Bonifacio.  

Our route from Ajaccio to Bonifacio was a very pretty one, going through some lovely coastal towns, then making our way inland and then south to Bonifacio, which is at the southern tip of Corsica.

Lots of stone buildings with coloured shutters

A passing Church

Mountains (rain on the bus window)

Very pretty settings

Lots of green

Small rural towns

Flowers and church in distance

A larger town

Mountains and water

One of the larger towns we passed, located in the hills

Amazing rock formation in the middle of a town

Passing a local boulangerie

Steep mountains

Rock formation

More stone buildings

Finally back to the coast

We arrived in Bonifacio where there was blue sky and warm temperatures.  This medieval fortress town is perched dramatically atop white limestone cliffs.  Founded in 830, it is the oldest town in Corsica.  There is a marina and a number of restaurants and shops on the lower part of the town,  and then the 12th- century citadel sheltering a historic Old Town with winding cobbled streets, lively squares, and medieval monuments.   It is to the powerful Republic of Genoa that Bonifacio owes its greatest period of prosperity.  In 1187, Genoa took possession of the city then under the aegis of its rival, the Republic of Pisa.    Bonifacio was the firs citadel built by the Genoese in Corsica at the end of the 12th century.  

Bonifacio has been recognised as a Ville d'Art et d'Histoire (Town of Art and History) since 2019.

We are staying in the Old Town.  Because we had our luggage, we took the petit train shuttle (a small tourist vehicle) that takes one to Old Town, in the citadel.

Alain in the petit train- with our luggage

We are staying in a very old building that one enters off a narrow street into a passageway.  We are on the first floor (second in Canada), which is handy.  This is the first Airbnb where we were not greeted in person, but there was an easy to access lock box outside the apartment door and our host answered our questions on-line very promptly.

Large kitchen

Bathroom with a washer and a dryer!

Small balcony

Living room

Another view

Separate bedroom 

Our entrance is the door next to where the women are looking at cards.  It is a very old building,  but the apartment unit is very spacious and well-equipped.

We decided to immediately start exploring Bonifacio, as it was such a beautiful day.  We changed into shorts.

Monument to the Legionnaires who fell in the service of France during the campaigns in Sud-Oranais (Algeria) from 1897-1902.  This monument was originally located in Sidon, in French Algeria.  When Algeria became independent, the Foreign Legion left and took the monument with them.  
It was re-erected in Bonifacio in 1963.  A very interesting piece of history.

View down to where large boats dock and where ferries to Sardinia leave from.

We went to the Tourist Office in the Old Town just a few minutes from our apartment.  It is located on Scamaroni street.  Since 1944, the street was renamed for Fred Scamaroni, a national hero of the Resistance whose family was originally from Bonifacio.   We had just read about his capture and suicide in the Ajaccio citadel.

We walked down to the ferry dock to check out schedules for our departure to Sardinia on Thursday October 10.  We then decided to walk along the promenade which would take us back to the Marina and lower town. 

Wonderful promenade and lots of boats and people in the Marina

One of the first places we passed was an amazing patisserie, where they even have pastry classes from a master pastry chef.  Alain got a pain au chocolat.  They also serve ice cream and sorbet.  We were able to get an espresso and sat outside with our treats.

Beautiful pastries

The croissant and pain au chocolat area

Treats in the sun

So inviting

We have noticed a lot of shops as well as boats have the Corsican symbol displayed. The symbol on the flag of Corsica was adopted by General Pascal Paoli in 1755 when Corsican independence was proclaimed.  It was based on a traditional flag used previously.  It portrays a Moor's head in black wearing a white bandana above his eyes on a white background.  Previously, the bandana covered his eyes; Paoli wanted the bandana moved to above the eyes to symbolize the liberation of the Corsican people from the Genoese.  It fell out of usage during the period of French rule from 1769-1789.  It then was used briefly with the British coat of arms during the Anglo-Corsican Kingdom of 1794-96.  It then fell into disuse until 1980, when it was officially re-adopted as the regional flag.  The symbol is found everywhere in Corsica.

Clear example of the symbol - in the Kissing Pigs restaurant 

We passed an interesting sculpture in a square just off the promenade.

Hommage aux Pecheurs Bonifaciens, Gabriel Diana, sculptor, 2022

Lovely soap store with many local flavours

Looking back at the citadel and Old Town

We walked all the way back to where the bus had dropped us and then decided to have a very early dinner at a restaurant we had passed, right on the water.

View from our table

Outside of restaurant- seafood specialties

Alain had linguini with a mix of seafood

I had a huge pot of mussels cooked in white wine sauce with frites

It was lovely eating on the harbour

Lots of activity in the harbour

Flying the Corsican flag

Another person fixing the rigging

After dinner, we walked back up to the Old Town.   There is a not to difficult ramp to walk up.

Walking up

Looking back down the ramp

A bit farther up the ramp

We then had some spectacular views in beautiful lighting.  Some of these rock formations reminded us of the Great Ocean Road in Australia outside of Melbourne.  Bonifacio is famous for its white cliffs overlooking the Straits of Bonifacio.   We are only 12 km from Sardinia.

Beautiful limestone rock (big rock in water in the foreground is known as "Grain of Sand")

Another view- of the citadel

Climbing further

Looking back at the harbour

Another view

There was then a second ramp we took to get to the citadel and our apartment 

We passed Saint-Roch Chapel, which was raised where the last victim of the plague of 1528 died, which had reduced the local population by three-quarters.

View of the harbour--- what an incredible setting

Alain with lovely light near the rock face

Last steps until we entered the citadel area

One of the old streets near ours

St. Jean Baptiste Church- built in 1785, also known as the Chapel of Mercy

We headed back to our apartment.  The hallway which leads into the apartments is ancient, but luckily our apartment is only on the first floor so there is not far to go.

Ancient entrance to the apartment

We had a wonderful introduction to Bonifacio.  While the permanent population is only around 3200, there are many tourists exploring the ancient city.   Having beautiful weather was a real bonus.  The views from the citadel are truly spectacular.