Propriano to Ajaccio

May 8, 2025

Biking in Corsica comes to an end

We woke to grey skies, but less wind than the past few days. although the skies were threatening, it wasn’t raining first thing.

I left shortly after 7:30 to get a hike in before dropping the rental car. Mel would have to ride loaded, because I couldn’t carry her bags and mine too.

It was a very steep uphill up to the hotel gate - thankfully it was automated so I didn’t have to start my standard again on a steep uphill.

By the time I’d reached the nice little village of Serra Di Ferro, it was raining. I texted Mel to warn her, and she delayed her departure by a while while this cell passed by. Meanwhile, I sat in the car.

My hiking destination was the town of Porto Pollo (Chicken Port?) known as Porti Poddu in Corsican. I chose to call it ‘porta potty’.

The storm clouds passed quickly and I was walking just before 9 am. It was a nice 90 minute walk at a very brisk pace. I saw only one other walker.

I started out on a quiet road. The sky is already blue again, less than ten minutes after it was raining.

Like many routes here, the trail is well marked.

Porti Poddu has nice beaches too. And a big marina.

In the interests of time, I skipped the rest of my planned loop and just did an out and back.

AIfter my hike I was hoping for an stress-free drive on larger roads like I’d enjoyed yesterday. But no such luck! The roads were not only narrow and twisty, a good portion of the drive to Ajaccio was on bad quality roads with broken up pavement and patches. Plus there were the 🤬 packs of motorcycles again. And two uncontrolled one lane bridges.

Despite my slow drive and taking the wrong exit on a roundabout, I was still on track to return the car before my noon deadline. I got gassed up and returned the car to the Ajaccio airport. Phew. I’ve never felt so relieved to relinquish a rental car.

Then I walked over to the terminal and had a nice break. Mel was not visible on Google maps, but I knew there were some gaps in cell coverage on her route because I’d experienced them too. After an hour, I still couldn’t see her, so I phoned just about the same time she finished her ride. It turned out that she had shut off the cellular data on her phone.

She was safely in Porticcio, where we’d agreed to take a ferry across the bay because there’s no nice way to bike into Ajaccio from the south. I took a cab to Porticcio and we had a celebratory beer on the beach, then a very good smoked salmon sandwich.

My reward for not crashing the rental car.

It was a shock to see this sticker on a minivan parked in Porticcio. It’s a Revelstoke, BC based business. I’d love to know more about the story. Not much heli skiing here in Corsica.

Mel’s bike has completed the Corsica part of its journey.

We took this boat across the bay to Ajaccio.

Our boat route. This let Mel avoid biking on busy roads past the airport. Google suggested it.

Our first look at Ajaccio. For us, this is the trickiest name to pronounce. In French, it’s “a-jack-see-oh”. In Corsican, it’s “eye-atch-oh”

Our hotel is in the old part of the city near the ferry terminal and loads of restaurants and shops. Hotel Napoléon is an old building, but our room has been nicely renovated. Mel’s bike is in its own garage across the street.

After getting cleaned up, we wandered around a bit and had some delicious ice cream. Every gelato place seems to say says it’s ‘artisanal’, even if it’s made by Nestle. Today’s ice cream was genuinely made by the guy who scooped it. It was SO good.

Dinner out was at a cool little restaurant recommended by our hotel. The menu changes weekly. Mel had crispy duck and I had a chicken stew and a new brand of local beer we hadn’t seen before. I’d have liked like more spice on my chicken.

Ajaccio is Corsica’s capital, and the birthplace of Napoleon. The Napoleon museum was closed by the time we wandered around town. He lived in this house until he was seven.

Our tiny fried fish appetizer. They were very tasty. Not at all greasy. And the size of minnows. A new experience for me.

This church’s bells rang a long time. Just celebrating 7 pm, or because of the new pope?

Mel’s route for the day was on quiet roads until the last few kilometres.

Today's ride: 57 km (35 miles)
Total: 704 km (437 miles)

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