True oyster cult

IT was just a small footnote in the guide book. "Those with a passion for oysters can sample them fresh from the saltwater lagoon." It was enough. The large-scale map came out, the directions were followed to the last 100 metres and we found it - the most perfect setting in the Med in which to eat Ostrea edulis. It was probably Elizabeth David who said (and if she didn't, she ought to have done) that the only way to eat oysters is live, on the half-shell, with chunks of freshly cut lemon and bread. She omitted the glass of crisply chilled white wine, a table in view of the sea and the sand still between your toes. These last few seasonings add perfection to this particular holiday menu dish.

The saltwater lagoon in question is the Etang de Diane, just north of Aleria on Corsica's eastern coast. After days of sunlounging, reading trashy paperbacks and drinking too much ros? at lunchtime, it had seemed time to take on board some culture. Aleria had promise. The ancient capital during the Roman era, it offered Roman ruins and a Genoese fortress. It also, from the guidebook description, seemed blissfully short of tourist shops, cheap restaurants or anything else which would provide honeypot temptations for the army of French and German campers who occasionally blight some Corsican seaside spots.

But this was late September and most of the sun-worshipping hordes had loaded their BMWs back onto the Marseille-bound ferry. The museum of Roman and Greek finds was cool and quiet, and we made sure to check out the highlight, an "Attic bowl featuring a masturbating Dionysus, with twisting erotic figures on its rear face". The nearby Roman ruins are much less entertaining.

A quick swim always tweaks the appetite for lunch, so we returned to the Aleria crossroads, followed the sign "? Cave d'Aleria" and headed towards the giant steel wine vats as harvest was proceeding in the vineyards. The air was filled with the dizzying scent of ripe grapes destined to become Aleria's R?serve du Pr?sident.

Some way down the newly metalled road a small sign offered two beaches. Take the left, to Mare di Stagno, and you have chosen well. As the vines end, the rougher metalled road runs

out. Turn right down hard-packed sand. Keep going, and the road swings left to run parallel with the sea. Continue for four or five minutes of very slow driving (or as long as you think your hire-car suspension can take) and pull in. Walk through the dunes and before you is a sweep of pure white sand as far as the eye can see in either direction. As it will be empty (OK, we could see a couple of anglers, but only after we'd got the binoculars out), remove all clothing and bathe. Then dress for lunch.

L'Auberge du Chalet restaurant is about 500 metres north of the Aleria crossroads. This is not where you will be lunching. You need to keep driving north for about another mile until you reach a small turning on the right, where a narrow track leads down to Le Chalet restaurant.

It looks absurdly out of place - a straw-roofed shack on stilts, perched over the sparkling waters of the lagoon itself, so you can take your table (ask for one on the outside terrace) and peer down at the oyster beds and the bass small fry basking in the sun. Slip off your shoes under the table, ignoring the out-of-place group in business suits at the next table, and order the largest platter of oysters - or other fishy things if you really must - and a bottle of that very same Réserve du Président which you just saw being harvested for next year. Enjoy. Just don't forget to leave some sand between your toes.

The bill at L'Auberge du Chalet came to about £38 for two. With grateful thanks to David Abram, writer of the Rough Guide to Corsica, for his off-thebeaten-track recommendations; all worth following.

Way to go

THE north of Corsica is much less developed than the rest of the island and there are excellent small local restaurants both here and in the port of Bastia. Late availability is very limited. Departing 26 August, Voyages Ilena (020 7924 4440) has two weeks in the Casa Fratacci apartment, near Patrimonio, for £699pp (two sharing), including flights to Bastia and car rental. French Affair (020 7385 8438) has return flights to Figaro, near Porto Vecchio, departing 26 August, back 9 September, for £200. Try also Corsican Places (01903 748180) and Holiday Options (01444 244411).