Tag Archives: Saint-Mandrier-sur-Mer

Before we walked the streets of Ajaccio on Corsica, Ursula snagged us a quick bus tour just outside the cruise terminal. She was anxious to get us aboard, as another much larger cruise ship was preparing to offload passengers and the bus would fill up quickly if we did not act. The bus would take us to some highlights in southwest Ajaccio, then head west for some sights we would not otherwise have seen.

Our bus took coastal route D111 westbound out of Ajaccio, and it wasn’t long before we drove past our first sight. These tombs make up Cimetière Marin d’Ajaccio (Ajaccio Marine Cemetery). Here’s a little photo gallery/slide show:

As we continued westward we hugged the coastline:

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Over the next three weeks I’ll be showing you Ajaccio in the Corse-du-Sud (Southern Corsica) department of Corsica. Ajaccio is also the capital of the island. This was an exciting stop for us, as during our many Mediterranean voyages we had never before visited Corsica. Indeed, many of the destinations on this eight-day cruise were new to us.

We sailed into Ajaccio at about 9:00 a.m. on 16 May 2022. As such, the lighting was excellent when I hit the deck to photograph our arrival into port.

As you approach the port you’ll notice two large marinas. The marina tucked in the northwest corner of the bay is Port de Plaisance Charles Ornano (Charles Orano Pleasure Port):

The marina at the west entrance of the bay is Port Tino Rossi, and it’s just past this marina that houses the cruise terminal.

If you look closely at the image above you’ll see a divided tree-lined avenue with what appears to be a large crown. Beyond that crown is a large structure at the very end. That is the Grotte Napoléon, a monument to Napoléon Bonaparte. Looking west along Av. Antoine Serafini, which becomes Av. du Premier Consul, which in turn becomes Av. de Paris before transforming yet again (confused yet?) into Cr. Grandval, Cr. Général Leclerc, and finally All. de la Légion d’Honneur, you’ll get this fun view from the ship as it arrives:

Three more images from our sailing into Ajaccio until Wednesday, where I’ll take you on a quick bus ride through town and to points west:

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