Around twenty kilometers separate Figari airport, where a good number of flights from ” from the continent “, from the historic center of Porto-Vecchio (Portivechju, in Corsica). In the heart of the ramparts of the Genoese citadel, a small establishment with a beige granite facade reopened its doors last summer, after four years of work: the Hôtel Moderne. Three sisters from the island – Anaïs, Chloé and Marie-Léa Tubiana – are at the origin of the project. In the 1980s, their father acquired, with one of his friends, this hotel built in the 1940s.
After having had some success, the place deserved to be completely renovated. It now has fifteen rooms and a vast roof terrace offering a 360-degree view of the city and the Gulf of Porto-Vecchio. You can sit there to admire the panorama, read a book or have a drink. Two floors below, room 35 has a private terrace overlooking the bell tower of the baroque Saint-Jean-Baptiste church and, in the distance, to the right, the Mediterranean.
Inside the room, as in the rest of the hotel, the trio opted for sobriety. The walls are white, the floor is mineral-inspired and the space is optimized thanks to custom-made oak storage furniture. Two options for breakfast: one with a fruit plate, another with pastries and pastries. We take it on its terrace or in the small room on the ground floor whose bay window opens onto the pedestrian street.
10, cours Napoléon. From €99 per night in a double room. hotel-moderne.com
At 40 meters: sip a cold juice
A Nepita takes its name from an aromatic plant, close to wild mint, which grows in the Corsican scrub. In this astonishing boutique, both greengrocer and florist, fruit and vegetable stalls coexist with bouquets of all colors and rustic floral arrangements. Teresa and Guillaume Angeli, the thirty-something couple who opened the place at the beginning of February, also offer delicious fruit juice cocktails to take away, pressed to order.
2, cours Napoléon, Open every day. Fruit juice from €4 to €6.50.
70 meters away: stock up on Corsican gastronomy
Dozens of whole hams hang from the ceiling of L’Orriu, a must-have Corsican delicatessen founded three generations ago by the Andreani family, in an old granite vaulted cellar. The shelves are full of goat’s and sheep’s cheeses, black pork hams, terrines, bottles of myrtle wine and other canistrellis (dry biscuits typical of the island). This temple of local gastronomy also includes a wine cellar and a cantina where it is advisable to book.
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