Ajaccio to Toulon

May 9, 2025

A day in Ajaccio then an overnight ferry

Today was Corsica departure day. For the first time on the island, there was no coffee in the room for Mel, nor a kettle for her to make her own. Fortunately, the hotel provided her with a cup of espresso to get her kick started.

We headed out at 8 am to the nearly Ajaccio Market to buy fruit and chard/brocciu turnovers, supplemented by another coffee and pastry from a boulangerie. Interestingly, the coffee machine at the shop was a self-serve Nespresso. You purchased a capsule at the counter and then made your own coffee in the sitting area. Only the machine was malfunctioning and all Mel got the first time was a cup of hot water, and the machine still devoured the capsule, never to be seen again. I know that they are awfully wasteful, but I’ll credit Nespresso with making a tasty cup of decaf coffee.

Ajaccians are slow starters - there weren’t many other people around this Friday morning shortly after 8.

There was a selection of fish at the market too, of course. We’re only steps from the harbour.

Corsican oranges have all been delicious. These may be the best yet. They were super juicy.

We returned to the hotel to enjoy a bit of quiet planning time before checkout at 11 am. We had lots of time to wait for our evening ferry.

Mel’s ankle was not feeling good today. It’s been sore since we did all that walking in Bonifacio.

I went for another walk to explore Ajaccio a bit more and left Mel at the beach soaking her ankle. She said the water was nice. Not cold enough to chill her foot though.

There are many large beaches in Corsica. This small stretch doesn’t compare. But it is conveniently located near the city centre.

There was a lot going on near the water. There is a cultural and craft fair on, as well as home and auto show - there was lots of jewellery, clothes, pottery for sale.

Mel forgot a bike bottle the other day, probably in Zonza when we left by car in the rain. I explored Ajaccio in search of a new one while she took it easy. There was a bike shop listed in Google as being closed today, and it was. And another one that should have been open but is clearly out of business. No luck finding a replacement today.

Ajaccio has quite a few beautiful old buildings in need of sprucing up.

Ajaccio old and new. One thing we didn’t see once in Corsica was a French flag.

Here’s Napoleon as a Roman consul. He could do anything, that guy.

As part of the cultural fair, I finally saw sheep on Corsica. In an urban park. That’s not what I expected!

On my return to the market area, it was a lot busier. I bought a merguez sausage sandwich for lunch from a disorganized stand where the chef was enjoying a glass of wine while he cooked. It was worth the long wait.

We sat in the hotel lobby for a bit after I ate my lunch. And then as part of our continued cultural exploration, we enjoyed Cap Corse spritzes in the sunshine. White for me, red for Mel. It tasted like vermouth, I thought - very enjoyable.

Local spritzes. The recipe is on the poster.

Then we had an early dinner before the ferry. There were not many restaurants open yet, so we settled for pizza. The leftovers will provide me with lunch on a hike tomorrow.

Mel’s bike looking lonely in the hotel’s garage. It later had some motorcycles for company.

Unlike in Nice, Mel and I got split up boarding the ferry to Toulon. She biked on with the motorcycles, and I entered the nice marine terminal building on foot with other pedestrians. This split caused consternation two years ago for Sue and me in Sardinia, but I was prepared this time. We each had the emailed boarding pass on our phones.

Also unlike Nice, there was no security clearance required to access the ferry. Is that because they’re trying to stop weapons from reaching Corsica on the inbound ferries, but don’t care what goes back to the mainland?

This ferry was much newer than the one that brought us to Corsica. It had electronic cabin entry instead of keys, LED lights in our cabin, and much nicer restaurants and bars. The food looked good, and the prices weren’t bad. Already having eaten, we sat in the bar at the very front of the boat and had a view of the setting sun while enjoying an Aperol spritz (me) and Hugo spritz (Mel).

The view from the bar at the bow of the ferry. This was early on. Within a short while, all the tables were full.

Our bare but functional cabin. For four people, just fold down the bunk beds on the walls.

We were assigned a cabin very near the front of the ferry, and I didn’t think it’d be an issue. But I won’t fall for that again - I’ll get something solidly in the middle, away from the lobbies. There were a bunch of young teenagers and their parents hanging out in the entry way near our cabin playing cards. They were very noisy. Earplugs and the hum of the boat engine helped a bit as I tried to get to sleep. But it was still annoying. So I got changed again and went out to let them know that there were cabins nearby. The parents were very nice about it, saying it was time the kids went to sleep anyway, and everyone immediately quieted down. Hurray.

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Karen PoretGlad you “spoke up” for quiet! That is very impressive. 👏
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