It is apparently considered quite a favour to be allowed to show you the way, and the straw hats are pulled off with a polished smile worthy of Beau Brummel. One man, at a chemist's door, went so far as to thank us for having thus appealed to him!
Another, an optician, a sweet-looking old gentleman, in a grey slop and wide-awake, after having vainly searched for some time for an eye-glass to suit No. 3, was quite overcome when she apologized for the useless trouble given; and showed off the talents of his handsome black and white retriever, which, at his request, leaped upon a chair to kiss his master, with a paw placed on either shoulder.
The shops at Ajaccio are fairly good, and more modern in appearance than at Bastia; and certainly they deserve to be patronized, if it is only to learn good manners.
The climate of Ajaccio is lovely; very little rain falls there.
During our different visits to the town this highly rainy and unsatisfactory spring, only one day, I think, was really wet; and I noticed that the weather generally seemed brighter here than elsewhere.
In winter it is charming. November, December, January, February, and March, vary exceedingly little in temperature, ranging from fifty-five to sixty-five degrees Fahrenheit, with an average of sixty-two degrees; but Miss Campbell declares January and February to be the most perfect months of the year in Ajaccio; and March is certainly far less windy, chilly, and dusty here than on the Riviera.
In April the temperature generally rises considerably, and towards the end of the month the winter visitors begin to leave in a body. It becomes then rather too relaxing, but is wonderfully free from mosquitoes and fevers, and other Southern plagues, up to the month of July; when, although not positively dangerous, like the towns on the eastern coast, it is decidedly not healthy for any Northern stranger who may be enough of a salamander to brave its tropical heat.
In July and August, even the natives, under their big umbrellas, dread the glaring sun; the upper classes all remove to their country houses or summer lodgings up among the hills, and the snakes and lizards hold high jinks on deserted road and furnace-like rock; whilst the scorpions, whose sting is death to man or beast, occasionally vary their amusements by appearing within the houses.
Ajaccio is more and more becoming a winter resort for consumptive persons. The temperature is as mild as that of Mentone, and more equable. It is less expensive, equally comfortable, and equally beautiful in its surroundings.
The one drawback, of course, is the voyage; but good vessels run two or three times a week from Marseilles to Ajaccio direct, a voyage of sixteen hours; and this is decidedly the best and easiest route for invalids (unless exceptionally bad sailors), as they then avoid the smaller vessels, and the long cold land journey over the interior from Bastia.