June 7 Ajaccio, Napoleon Bonaparte’s birthplace

 

We are in Corsica's capital city, the city which was the birthplace of the ‘little Corsican’ Napoleon Bonaparte.  What a tourist drawcard! A local guide took us on a walking tour of the old town of Ajaccio including a visit to the house where he was born and spent his youth. Contrary to what many people think (me included) it seems he came from a fairly well to do family and was very well educated. Our tour was as you would imagine - "this is the room where the family dined, the bed where he may or may not have slept so I won't post endless photos of dubious reconstructions. The trapdoor in the floor intrigued me. It's probable that many notable families had escapes routes such as this but the trap door led to the cellar. Of course we descended to have a look and there were old wine and olive presses.

The trap door

The Bonaparte family tree

The family tree was quite an eye opener. Although I don’t recall the details, one of the Bonaparte descendants had some influential position in the USA. While in power Napoleon placed family members very strategically around the world.

Then it was back to the port and our hotel via a market which unfortunately was closing for the day.

Time for a drink by the pool