The Fantastic Red Granite "Les Calanches" Of Corsica

Thursday, May 16, the Seabourn Legend docked at the port of Ajaccio on the southwest coast of the island of Corsica. It was raining when we arrived, and Dan was feeling under the weather with a cold, so he elected to stay on board for the day. Jim decided to join other passengers on the tour we had previously booked going to "Les Calanches," a two hour drive North along the rugged and spectacular coastline of western Corsica. Here is what the Corsica travel guide has to say about the scenery:

The Calanches de Piana are an almost surreal world of weather carved pink granite, an other-worldly vista of strangely shaped red figures, often plunging dramatically into the turquoise sea below. Some of the dramatic rocks plunge towards the sea below, others stand poised high above at altitudes up to 300 metres, all are fascinating and beautiful, with the sea providing a perfect backdrop.

As soon as we left Ajaccio driving north, the rain stopped. We were treated to many beautiful vistas along the coast of the heavily mountainous island of Corsica. Our guide explained that Corsica was once part of France millions of years ago..and the Corsican mountains were part of the Alps. The western coastline of the island is jagged and rocky. The eastern coastline has beaches. When we arrived at "Les Calanches," our tour bus parked and we went on foot along the narrow, winding mountain road to view the remarkable red granite formations. I haven't seen anything like this since Dan and I toured the southwest U.S. The formations are simply spectaular. The skies were alternately sunny and partly cloudy which provided a variety of lighting effects as I took many photographs. Here are some of the photos: