- Hiking
- Grand Ajaccio
- Balade des Anglais
Bois des Anglais and ridge path in Ajaccio
The first tourists were English
Promenade des Anglais in Nice, Bois des Anglais in Ajaccio, Cascade des Anglais in Vizzavona, why?
Tourism is now a global industry, but it has only been around for a century. From warm sandy beaches bathed in sunshine to snow-capped mountains, these places have not always been synonymous with pleasure.
It was the Englisharistocrats who initiated tourism, whichwas born on the wave of the industrial revolution combined with the evolution of the way enlightenment like Jean-Jacques Rousseau looked at the world at the end of the 18th century.
Provence and the Côte d'Azur quickly became holiday regions for the English, who were looking for a milder climate, particularly to spend the winter. In Nice, they financed the development of the coastal road they regularly used, which became the famous Promenade des Anglais.
English wood
The name " Bois des Anglais " dates back to the middle of the 19th century, when a young Scottish woman - Miss Thomasina Mary Anne Elisa Campbell - was captivated by the charm of the Isle of Beauty, which she crossed from south to north in 1868. This picturesque journey led her to write a book published in 1872 by the Pompeani printing works in Ajaccio, entitled Notes sur l'île de Corse en 1868: dédiées à ceux qui cherchent de la santé et du plaisir, which greatly encouraged Anglo-Saxon tourism on the island.
On the heights of Ajaccio
The Bois des Anglais marks the transition between urbanism and nature, as the British landscape architect Edward Lear said in 1868, and this is one thing that hasn't changed in the last century and a half. The crest trail that starts at the Bois des Anglais is accessible via a small car park 2 streets above the Place d'Austerlitz.
The light earth path is easy to walk, sometimes narrow enough for two people to pass, and is bordered by arbutus, holm oak, olive trees and scrubland shrubs such as Montpellier rockrose and prickly pear. This is a very sunny hiking trail, with some shade under the trees and occasional small streams.
