Today really marks the beginning of the end as I return to Ajaccio in preparation for the flight home tomorrow. It’s kind of odd not to have to get up early in order to cram in five hours walking, but, given this is a holiday, it?s also rather welcome. (Well, I could have gone for the early bus to the capital, but I decided to relax in laid-back Porto instead.)

The plan today is to get to Corte. There are two trains a day, which effectively means that I have to choose between sightseeing in Ajaccio or Corte — with daylight hours fading fairly early there would be no time to do both. Since I’m back in Ajaccio on Friday evening I decide to take the early train.

As I fly over it, I note the vivid blue-green colour of the water as it glistens in the midday sun. This is not the Mediterranean as I approach Corsica but the English Channel shortly after leaving from London City airport. It’s amazing how the sun enhances even the most seemingly mundane scenes.

It’s three hours and a change of plane in Paris before I see Corsica for real. In fact it was cloudy and only visible for the last few minutes of the descent. First impressions: very hilly, mountainous even. The cream houses scattered near the coast are attractive and give the impression of a place that is in the south of France or Tuscany.

This weeks PhotoFriday theme is “Vacation.” Here is my entry. When most people think of ‘vacation’ they think of a beach holiday. This image is of Menton in France.

Please also vote for my entry in last weeks challenge. I’m entry number 91.

Last year I went on a walking holiday in France with two friends. We started in Nice, got the train to Sospel and then walked to the coast at Menton. Between them we saw some beautiful scenery, drank some lovely wine and ate fantastic food. I can’t share the alcohol or steak, but you can see the pictures…

We started the week in Nice. I’d heard great things about the place but, on the whole, I wasn’t terribly impressed. I’ll be positive and say this is probably because they were digging the whole town up to install a new tram system, or because we didn’t spend very much time there. Anyway, this means that there are no decent pictures.