May 9, 2025
Bonifacio’s white chalk cliffs were the first things we noticed as Le Dumont d’Urville made it’s way to her assigned anchorage. The closer we cruised the more beautiful the city became with the sunrise. Today, we will tender into port and join a walking tour of this small city perched on a cliff.
Corsica is mostly granite and craggy mountains with the east shoreline having the popular beaches and the west filled with harbors and inlets. The population of 306,000 rugged individuals live in an environmentally unique region with different climates depending on where you travel. There is a Mediterranean climate, a subalpine zone, and a mountain zone, each having protected plants and animals such as the feral sheep, mouflon, and its signature plant, the fragrant maquis.
A mini train transported us upward, 213-feet from the port to the citadel where we began our walking tour. Suzanne, our guide, gave us the long complicated history, beginning with her own. She told us she arrived in Bonifacio several years ago to teach waterskiing and never left. She has done practically every job imaginable including raising goats and making cheese for 20 years.
During our walk, she offered insights into the history of Corsica, with evidence of human inhabitants as early as 8,000 years ago with the discovery of a small statue, the “Old Lady of Bonifacio”, in a cave wall. There is also an interesting reference to Bonifacio in Homer’s “Odysseus” where Laestrygonians hurled boulders from the cliffs, sinking 11 Greek ships. It was easy to imagine this as we stood at an overlook, staring down into the narrow entrance of the natural harbor.
In 828, a Tuscan nobleman sailed into the fjord-like harbor and decided to live here, building a castle in the area of the citadel, however not much population growth came from this endeavor. The Genovese were the most impactful, ruling over this island for 400 years. The Catholic Church sent the Knights Templar for a short period to protect the island from the Moors. The Dominican Church’s bell tower they built still stands today. Suzanne was a walking textbook of historical information!
We were led through narrow streets, under rainwater “aqueducts” looking like flying buttresses. We learned where the water collected when we arrived at the 13th century church of St. Marie Majeure.
Our group stood on the loggia that covered a 650 cubic foot cistern. This was the only source of fresh water during times of siege.
While waiting for others in our group to join us after touring the interior of the church, Suzanne gave us a sample of cork, recently taken from a tree. Cork is an export material from Corsica and is not just for wine bottles. There are many products using cork as their primary material (purses, belts, etc).
We asked Suzanne about the Corsican flag we’ve seen and its blindfolded man. She gave us a couple theories but the most popular is that it is symbolic of the struggle for freedom and standing up to oppression. The man lifts his blindfold to look his executioner in the eye. It’s certainly memorable!
Our next history lesson was on the Street of Emperors: Charles V stayed here for just 3 days in 1541 but Napoleon Bonaparte was born on this street in 1769. We passed his modest dwelling, heading to one of 8 city gates, this one having a working drawbridge.
The view from the drawbridge was as breathtaking as any of the overlooks where we had stopped. It was more informative as we could identify the walkway we needed to take to get back to the Port to enjoy our free time.
One of the main reasons we choose Tauck as a tour company is the quality of local guides . Suzanne made our tour of Bonifacio exceptional with the depth of her knowledge of history and culture of this French island, the birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte.
We returned to the ship, greeted by other passengers indulging in happy hour, tasting Pietra, a chestnut beer, and Cannonau, a “Blue Zone” red wine from neighboring Sardinia. The evening entertainment was a delightful surprise. Corsican musicians sang melodic folk songs with and without instruments. The young trio, ORM, was a huge hit with our group!
Le Dumond d’Urville cruised away from beautiful Bonifacio and towards the island of Elba, our last stop before leaving the ship. As we cruised away, we got a better view of ancient stairs, looking like a thin black line leading diagonally from the top of the city to the water’s edge. These stairs were used by the populace to draw water from a spring near the bottom of the cliff before the cistern was built. Fortunately, we didn’t need to use those steps! It was another amazing day, reflecting on our adventure while sipping on wine and munching on Corsican delights, watching the world go by!
