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a tawny teak deck. After looking at shops in lished estimates. Civilian dead ranged from
the vieille ville (old town) we climbed to the 750,000 to 3 million.
haute ville (upper town) to a citadel that had Our final stop on Corsica was Calvi, popula-
once protected the town and more recently was tion 5,000, on the island’s northern tip. Ac-
an outpost of the French Foreign Legion. cording to legend, Christopher Columbus was
Then it was on to the town of Alghero on the born here in 1451. Like many coastal cities in
west coast of Sardinia, where we visited the the Mediterranean, Calvi has an imposing
Leda d’Ittiri vineyard to sample its red and citadel that was our first stop.
white wines, olives and Pecorino cheeses made Then we walked through the town on cobble-
from sheep milk. Alas, the Leda d’Ittiri was stone streets and along the harbor, where we
not serving (because it’s sort of illegal) the viewed not only sailboats but some ritzy look-
Casu Marzu cheese, which includes - I’M NOT ing superyachts that were more than 100 feet
MAKING THIS UP - live maggots and is con- long.
sidered a Sardinian delicacy or even, ahem, an Several dive operators had stands in the ma-
aphrodisiac.
rina where wetsuits were hanging up to dry.
However, our guide told me she knew where They offered trips out into the waters off Calvi.
to find a Casu Marzu cheesemaker and if I re- If I’d had more time, I would have chosen an
turned, a visit and a tasting might be arranged. excursion to a wrecked WWll B-17 bomber that
That afternoon, back on the Star Clipper, I crashed in 1944, killing several crew mem-
got the chance to climb up the main mast to a bers. It rests on a white sandy bottom at about
lookout over the Alghero Harbor. I asked if I 80 feet, making it an easy visit. And if I ever
could ascend further to the 213-foot summit, make it back to Corsica - perhaps on my own
but (sadly) was turned down. Still, the view sailboat - I’d love to dive that wreck.
over the marina was lovely. That night, as we headed north to the French
Next we visited Ajaccio, about half way up Riviera, I finished reading an interesting book
the Corsican coast and Napoleon’s birthplace about Corsica called the “Rose Cafe.” The set-
in 1769. We toured the upper middle class ting was the late 60s and the protagonist - an
home, not far from the harbor, where he lived American student in his 20s - had a summer
until he was sent off to a military boarding job at a beachside restaurant where he met in-
school at age 9. triguing characters - some possible spies from
He later became a Corsican nationalist be- WWll - and learned their stories.
fore leading France after the French Revolu- In St. Tropez and Cannes, we saw scores of
tion. During his time as emperor, the huge motoryachts that must have cost tens of
European continent was in a near constant millions of dollars and had crews of a dozens.
state of war from 1803 to 1815 with combat It was all a bit overwhelming. I think I’ll stick
deaths from 1803 to 1805 totaling between 2.5 with sailboats.
million to 3.5 million, according to some pub-
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