Thursday, Sept 11th – Monday, Sept 15th
Thursday, Sept 11th
Wednesday morning we got on the ferry to Calvi, Corsica. The ferry ride was a few hours of reading and a little eating.
When we got to Calvi we stopped at a bakery for some bread and a onion-filled pastry. I ate most of the pastry while we did a larger shopping trip for dinner food. After checking where we could camp at the tourist office, we set out for the farthest camping place in the direction we were going. I think it was 15-20 Km.
The ride there was beautiful, if somewhat windy for riding along a steep grade above jagged red rocky shoreline. There were a couple of times when we stopped to catch our breath after nearly being blown over.
We stopped at the camping place we had planned on. There were quite a few people there. We camped near the edge of the camping area toward the beach. Near us were a couple of Australian women, and a German couple with some kids. When the kids went to bed the adults smoked pot.
We set up our tent on a tiny patch of grass in the gravel. The beach and some of the campsite was a coarse, smooth gravel of many colors. Mostly darker gray, red, and brownish rock. We went swimming, then made dinner. It got dark. On the way back from the restrooms we were startled by a pair of bright yellow eyes and curved horns just past our tent. There was a small herd of cows nearby, one of which had wandered through a hole in the fence. We had to move the tent off of the grassy patch due to fear that we might be trampled in the night by incautious grazing.
Friday, Sept 12th
Was it Thursday morning we rode some rough roads? This experience prompted a discussion about whether we could just bike straight to Bastia without the rest of the route, or whether we could take a ferry to Italy from Calvi. The rough portion turned out not to be that extensive. Most of the roads we used in Corsica came closer to the French standard.
We stopped for lunch at a pass above Osani. Lunch consisted of some of those savory filled pastries mentioned earlier. We were hungry and the pastries were good, but we kinda regretted bringing our lunch up there. The place we stopped had a wood-fired pizza oven that cooked some very good-looking pizza.
We spent a fair amount of time following other cyclists on Thursday. There was one pass we stopped at where there must have been 8 or 10 other cyclists stopped for a break. The majority of the cyclists were riding hardtail mountain bikes.
This day included a lot of shorter climbs and descents. The road wound around the landscape.
As the day was lengthening and drawing to a close we passed through Cargèse. A few miles later we decided we should have investigated where we could camp nearby. Luckily we found a mostly-empty public beach and camped there back amongst the scrub. We cooked a semi-rainy dinner on the beach.
Saturday, Sept 13th
Friday we rode along the beach for a while, over some hills and down into Ajaccio. We touristed around for a while there, checking out small shops and taking a look at what camping places were available to the northeast. We had gelato. We bought some food.
We rode up the highway toward the Col de Vizzavona, which would be our highest point on Corsica. The first section of this leg was pretty flat, but it was a hot afternoon. We stopped and had a snack of some cheese and bread.
The afternoon got dimmer and clouds were building when we stopped at a camping near Vero. The sites were right above a river (La Gravona). The site had rows of Eucalyptus trees. We set up the tent. I scrambled around the river a bit. We made dinner and the rain began.
Sunday, Sept 14th
In the morning the guy who owned the camp came to tell us that we could use the shower, which required some type of token to operate, while we were making coffee. There was little understanding. It was raining. I figured it out and showered while Evelyn pouted and fiddled with her wet clothes.
We spent most of the day’s riding climbing up the pass and descending the other side. I had changed into shorts for the climb, but the other side of the pass was chilly and rainy. The descent was freezing. My knees and fingers got stiff and cold.
There was a little climb through some smaller towns to Corte. We stopped at a many-wayed intersection promising a campsite to the northeast, the direction we were eventually headed. Corte was west. We went into Corte across some small bridges. There were at least three camping places real close to the town square. Two phone booths in the town square. A can of Pietra. Evelyn made a call to buy ferry tickets for the 16th. The required sequence of numbers was lengthy and obscure, the recipient difficult to understand.
We set up camp at Camping Chez Bartho. The citadel could be seen from our campsite. We walked into town for dinner. We had a traditional Corsican-themed dinner. It was okay. Some pastry, a soup not dissimilar to minestrone with a piece of pork, some pretty good cheese.
Monday, Sept 15th
This was my birthday. We spread the tent and some clothes out to dry in the sun after the night’s rain.
The road from Corte to Bastia was mostly downhill on a sizable highway with a wide shoulder. A fast ride. We stopped for lunch at a small park between the road and the train tracks. A couple walked their dogs from the back of their van. We ate good sandwiches we’d purchased in Corte.
South of Bastia the highway went straight north over rolling hills. The shoulder filled with overgrown flowering shrubs. Evelyn was stung in the eye by a hornet or a bee or something.
We avoided a tunnel and rode around a hill into Bastia. It got very windy. We went to the ferry ticketing office and got tickets on a ferry to Italy, instead of the tickets to France that had been accidentally bought on the phone the day before. We had an espresso and Evelyn picked up some stamps and mailed postcards.
We headed north along the coast into wind and rain to look for camping. We found a place not too far away. After setting up our tent the owner found us and told us we couldn’t possibly camp. It was raining. A backpacker with better French convinced her that camping might be possible. Near our site, there was a cute nook with seating built into an old loose stone wall.
In the tiny town near the camping we had pizza, lettuce salad, and wine for dinner. Pear tiramisu for dessert.