A CORSICAN AFFAIR
With its unspoilt coastline, rugged hinterland, and cool nightlife, CORSICA is the hottest beach destination around. Margaret Kemp explores this A-LIST RETREAT. Photographs by Henrik Jessen
It has long been the chic summer hideaway for sophisticates such as Monica Bellucci, Laetitia Casta, and Carla Bruni, hiding behind their giant sunglasses on one of the super-yachts that drop anchor at the Port of Saint Florent, or in the deep harbour of Bonifacio in August—but most people have only recently caught on to the fact that Europe’s best beaches are only a short hop away in Corsica, with its 620 miles of unspoilt Mediterranean coastline.
The southern shores on this French island west of Italy are most alluring: the gentle tides, the pale Tiffany-blue glossiness of the sea, the diamond brightness of the sands with the dramatic backdrop of pines, and the soaring pink-granite cliffs providing picture-postcard loveliness at Palombaggia Beach. This is Corsica’s version of Club 55, without all the bling and champagne-spraying rituals, while Porto Vecchio is its Saint-tropez, circa 1960; pretty cobbled streets surround a harbour where colourful fishing vessels bob. In high summer, the normally sleepy pace of life here steps up a gear or two, when the port runs out of space and the Roman Abramovich types have to drop anchor in the bay and ride in by Riva launch.
A favourite evening ritual is a stroll up from the harbour to Porte Génoise and the Hauteville, peeping into air-conditioned designer boutiques, ice-cream parlours, and a couple of sensational grocers. There is a variety of port-side restaurants, the best being Le Grilladin, where chef Michel Horville kills and grills his catch in front of an adoring public nightly: pure theatre.
For all the summer crowds, the place still feels exclusive, perhaps because there are no fast-food joints or cheap developments. For those who don’t own or charter yachts or hunker down in their own villas, there is a wonderful choice of small, owner-run hotels.
The Grand Hôtel de Cala Rossa draws wellheeled Parisian families, Italians, and uppercrust English folk, who return every year for the beaches, low-key family atmosphere, and amazing food. In true Corsican style, it is totally unpretentious, a second home for the children who rush back to see photos of last summer’s holiday in albums kept by the fireplace in the piano-bar.
The hotel’s history is that of a family. In 1978, Jean-toussaint Canarelli bought a small guesthouse, which he transformed, little by little, into the Grand Hôtel, now part of the prestigious Relais & Châteaux group. Today his charming, unpretentious daughter Hélène runs the hotel. New is the ‘Bambou Cabin’, a treehouse suite crafted from local wood, overlooking the beach. Make sure to visit the vineyards with Patrick Fioramonti, Cala Rossa’s oenologist.
Casadelmar, on the other hand, is a low-rise glass edifice of a hotel, drawing a designconscious crowd to its striking minimalist interiors. Perched high over the bay of Porto Vecchio, it has its own beach, eight hectares of manicured gardens, and an infinity pool. The 14-metre speedboat, which comes equipped with its own skipper, will whisk you away to the gorgeous islands or to the spectacular Bonifacio.
And definitely the most dramatic way to appreciate this medieval town of Bonifacio is from the sea, where you can admire the full dramatic perspective of its tumble of stone houses, from the mountainside to the cafédotted harbour below. In the old town, Naomi Campbell has been spotted at Stella d’oro, where specialities include aubergines cooked with cheese. Later, the super-yachts send their hip young guests south to Via Notte, Porto Vecchio’s answer to Ibiza-style clubbing.
But in Corsica, it’s easy to escape the crowds. Only 10 miles north is Domaine de Murtoli, an estate of 3,000 wild and stunning acres owned by Corsica-born Paul Canarelli, brother of Cala Rossa’s Hélène. Here, wild boar snuffle through the bucolic maquis, and rivers meander to the handful of exquisite private beaches.
Guests at Murtoli rent houses where they can sunbathe in the gardens and snip herbs for an omelette from the vegetable patch. The pleasures here are simple and exclusive—it’s a designer-hemingway lifestyle on a huntingshooting-fishing estate. Sensational lunches are served in a chic straw hut on the beach, from which you might have dived that morning for fish, and where you can contemplate a view and quality of light that so impassioned Henri Matisse, he declared: “In many ways, it changed my life completely.”