Bonifacio -- here be pirates

Here be pirates. This southernmost tip of Corsica has a hilltop bastion above severe limestone cliffs: Bonifacio. It is protected by a gate so thick that to get into the town one had to pass through eight different wooden barriers set into it, plus a drawbridge, with a complicated set of counterweights, to confuse weary invaders. The secluded marina is the quintessential storybook pirate cove. A film set for Johnny Dep.

And here be real pirates. For nearly three hundred years Saracen and Barbary pirates reigned supreme in this gorgeous little harbour, and, in truth, over much of the Mediterranean. They operated as if they owned the place. Interestingly, they kept their illicit smuggling and slavery business close to the coast as they were rather fearful of the Corsicans, and were not at all inclined to take them back as slaves. The cagey Corsicans, as they had done for centuries, secreted themselves up in the hills to avoid being plagued by them.

The Moors, the pirates, figure large, even today. A black Moor's head on a white background, once a sign of independence, is still the identifying symbol of Corsica, and is used on the Corsican flag. Once upon a time the black bandana used to cover the Moor's eyes. It is said in some parts that this used to date from the time the Corsicans were prone to decapitating the heads of their Moorish invaders, so, think payback.

Coriscans are renowned, historically, for that payback payout, their vendettas. These could be over small things, like the ownership of a pig or a feud with the next village. Or over large things, like the ownership of their country or warning signs to ward off invaders.

High above the village of Bonifacio, way into the interior along the coast, Corsicans have taken to the hills in times of trouble. Knives have been their weapons of choice. These hills were their Nottingham Forest. Here they felt safe. From here they could protect themselves. They had the produits du terroir to sustain them in times of need.

And, today, we partook of some of their forest specialities for our long leisurely delicious Sunday lunch. We ate wild boar pate, young veal ragout dressed with field olives and a thick crust of burnt sugar on the best creme brule dessert we've ever eaten: oven-baked, poured into a thick earthenware pot, the bottom fanned with whole leaves of mint, for flavour. Incredibly delicious. No wonder the Corsicans and the pirates loved these parts.

oooOOOooo

Bastion on the hills of Bonifacio

Here be pirates in days of yore

Knives were the weapon of choice for Corsicans

Symbol on Corsica's flag