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 Napolean 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 is probable that many notable families had escapes routes such as this but this trapdoor led to the cellar. Of course we descended to have a look and found old wine and olive presses.
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| The home of the young Napoleon Bonaparte |
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| The trapdoor |
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| Olive press |
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| 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.
We eventually emerged from the Bonaparte home and made our way slowly back to the port and our hotel via a market which unfortunately was closing for the day.
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| Time for a drink by the hotel's pool |
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