Up a winding track above the village of Monacciad’Aullène in southern Corsica
sits our home for the week, Villa Tantanni. With its blue shutters, apricot
walls and infinity pool with a jaw-dropping view, it’s all the brochure
promised and more. And the pretty village below us, a jumble of terracotta
roofs and green fields with a resident honking donkey, could not look more
bucolic.
So what is this we spy, as we amble to the local auberge one evening? By the
side of the road in the centre of Monaccia is a stone memorial, surrounded
by a few dusty flowers, to François Santoni, whose story turns out to be
quite at odds with the rural idyll the village presents.
Over a pichet of local rosé wine at the auberge, La Pergola, we consult the
Rough Guide: “In August 2001, this remote village was dragged into the
international spotlight when it witnessed the Mafia-style murder of former
separatist-militant leader François Santoni...”
Crikey. We peer into the gathering gloom of the deserted village with new
interest. Like most visitors to Corsica, we had read about the island’s
nationalist struggle. Yet for holidaymakers, signs of discord are hard to
detect, beyond the bullet holes in the dual-language road signs, designed to
obliterate the French and leave only Corsican place names visible.
And like everyone we met, our hostess at La Pergola could not have been more
pleased to see us. Perhaps it was that in May, the season was just getting
going – though I prefer to think it was down to the winning behaviour of the
junior Urquharts, my nieces Emily, 6, and Ruby, 2. Our proprietor whipped up
some spaghetti and veal stew for the girls while keeping me, my brother
James, sister-in-law Jane and friend Tania well supplied with more pichets.
Soon huge plates of wild boar stew with pasta and delicious hard Corsican
cheeses and bread arrived – and she seemed almost offended when we tried to
leave a tip.
While Monacciad’Aullène is clearly hazardous for some, it seemed the only
danger for us visitors was to our waistlines. The gastronomic attack started
at 8.30 each morning when our cleaning lady, Armandine, arrived laden with
pains au chocolat, croissants, baguettes and fresh milk.
This was the cue for us adults to drag ourselves to the breakfast bar in the
villa’s open-plan living-dining room, brew some coffee and take breakfast
out to the pool.
Clan Urquhart’s previous family holiday in France had involved daily trips to
a nearby boulangerie before breakfast, but from our base outside Monaccia
this would have been quite a hike, so it was a luxury to tumble out of bed
and find breakfast delivered. And Armandine’s daily bread deliveries were
all part of the service.
As well as daily visits from Armandine, we were introduced to the British
staff, nanny Kate, spa therapist Rachel and chef Tom (whose services are
extra depending on what you book). Kate arrived with a huge box of toys and
Emily and Ruby were so engrossed that they barely bothered to wave us off as
we headed to nearby Tonnara beach for a long lunch.
Later Rachel gave us massages and tanning treatments in our bedrooms, and Tom
called by to finalise the menu for the night he was to cook for us. Some
holidaymakers book him every night, he said, although, after a belt-busting,
five-course supper we decided you needed to be on the ski slopes all day to
justify that.
With two small children and an 18m (60ft) pool, we had little incentive to
leave the deck area. Emily, a strong swimmer, was soon jumping in to dive
for toys, while Ruby pottered about in the wide shallow area we nicknamed
“the beach”.
But we managed a few leisurely day trips, such as to Bonifacio, with its
stunning sea views; the beach at Tonnara, where the girls built sandcastles;
and Filitosa, an hour’s drive north, where we scrambled around a Neolithic
site.
For a young family this was a perfect week: a safe, comfortable base with
great food and some easy pottering near by. Emily told me that the best bit
of the holiday was the pool. The worst bit, we all agreed, was having to
leave our beautiful villa.
Need to know
Cath Urquhart and family travelled with Coastline (0844 5571020, www.coastline.co.uk),
which offers seven nights in Villa Tantanni from £657pp, based on ten
sharing, including return flights from Gatwick, car hire, daily maid
service, bread delivery and change of linen, bath and beach towels.
Avis (0844 5818181, www.avis.co.uk) offers
a five-door car from £258 a week. BCP (0871 360 1013, www.parkbcp.co.uk)
offers a “meet and greet” service and one week’s parking at Gatwick from
£64.
Cath Urquhart's dispatches , are highly-readable ,lively, down-to-earth reports .
Nothing dour about this lass or the quinies who were mentioned in it !
Rob Urquhart, Christchurch, New Zealand