Bastia, Corsica

One of our days on Corsica we spent visiting Bastia. We had been there on our previous visit and judging purely on size and population Bastia is more a village than a city. But walking around there it gives you the feeling of being in a bigger city. It has nice bars, restaurants and shops selling all the big brands. We arrived shortly before noon and decided to walk around looking for a place for lunch first. Without intention we ended up in restaurant Nova, the same restaurant where we ate a few years ago. The restaurant has a large terrace on a small square in front where you can sit in the shade of large trees. It adds to the feeling of being in a bigger city in the south of France. Food quality is good, staff friendly and prices reasonable, the prices not in line with being in a big city luckily. Sitting under the trees the temperatures are also agreeable. I can certainly recommend this restaurant. A pity we still had our day program to finish, the place invites to linger and leisurely finish a bottle of wine in good company without looking at the clock. After lunch we visited the museum of Bastia. It is a history of Corsica museum with a lot of old paintings of important Corsicans and ‘Bastians’ on display. It was quite hot and the airco in the museum gave us a welcome breather. At the end of the exposition we went to the top of the museum building featuring a roof garding with a splendid view over the harbour below. The rest of the afternoon we spent shopping in the centre of Bastia. We all needed some clothing and just about when we were done I recognised the shop where I bought a polo shirt a few years back. It turns out to be part of a French chain with the name IZAC. I ended up buying a couple of polo shirts again so I should be able to survive the next coming years. The fabric was a bit too thick for the temperatures on Corsica but are well suited for where we live. After all that walking around we needed a drink and on our way back to the car we stopped at Café Theodore. Very basic and small but good enough for our purposes.