It has been a frustrating day. That happens when unknown forces derail my best-laid plans. I had wanted us up by 8am, but it was just too darn cold for the outdoor co-ed showers, but by 9am, it was more tolerable. An hour off schedule….I can roll with that….no worries. By 10am, we said goodbye to the best campsite to date and headed into the mountains to Corte.
The road to Corte was really pretty and an easy drive…that is until we actually got to Corte and the GPS took us into Old Town. Matt did some pretty fancy maneuvering and backed us out of a potentially bad situation. The Old Town is not only a maze of narrow streets, but it also is home to a University. Therefore, all the students have also parked in the most bizarre configurations and blocking through traffic in some spots. We made our way back down to “city” area, found the Casino Supermarket, and parked the camper there. We stared up the mountain towards the citadel above, trying to calculate how long it would take to hike up there. Then, as luck would have it, we noticed the little tourist train next to the parking lot. For 6 euro each, we got a round trip ride to the top which dropped us off at the base of the citadel along with some elderly tourists.
We usually make fun of the tourist trains. They look like the Disneyland parking lot shuttles. But I must say, the train saved us a lot of time. The Citadel was ok. From the Lonely Planet description, we had envisioned a grand fortress, so it was more of a “Spinal Tap” moment when we actually saw it because it was much smaller than expected. Also, we could not go inside, it could only be viewed from a lookout point. After the citadel, we made our way back through the winding streets and caught the little train back to the grocery store parking lot.
Next on the itinerary…the Vallee De La Restonica, described as, “one of the prettiest spots in all of Corsica. The river, rising in the grey-green mountains, has scoured little basins in the rock, offering sheltered pinewood settings for swimming.” The hiking there is suppose to be great too and I had chosen a good one for us. Unfortunately, the D63 (15km narrow road) was the only way there. As we reached the junction and looked down the D63, Matt just shook his head and said, “No way is this camper going to make it.” Saddened by the news, I turned to our backup plan…a visit to the Vallee du Niolo. This valley was described as, “one of the best kept secrets of Corsica with it’s picturesque valley.”
As we made our way back to the main road and turned down the road leading to the Niolo Valley, all seemed good. Then 10km later, the road suddenly became too narrow and looked as if the mountainside would rip apart the 3meter high camper. Defeated and REALLY frustrated, we made our way to Bastia. I had planned to spend a ½ day exploring Basti, but after driving through, I quickly changed my mind. Bastia is the main port. All the ferries disembark here. It reminded me of the chaos around the LA Harbor, only throw in some round-abouts, lots of crazy driver, narrow roads, and then some 2.2 meter high tunnels that pop out of nowhere, and that’s Bastia. The harbor road we were on suddenly dipped heading towards and underground tunnel. The camper was way too tall and in a last ditch effort, Matt changed lanes, got us out of harm’s way, but then we found ourselves in the boarding lanes to the ferry. This is not a good place to be either. Fortunately, we found an exit and got back on the main road to the Cap Course.
The Cap Course is the Northern most peninsula of Corsica. Locals say the Cap Corse Peninsula, which sticks out at the top of Corsica for 40km is a giant geographical flipping-off finger at the French Riviera. I don’t know why they feel that way. Once on the Cap Course, we began looking for campsites which was not easy at all. Most of them did not allow campers. Finally, when we thought we might be driving the entire peninsula, we spotted La Pietra’s Campground. Down a small country road, we found a little piece of comfort…bathrooms with a seat AND toilet paper WITH dentist-office-musak pumped in overhead. The bathrooms are still co-ed and outside, but they were so beautiful. There is a pretty swanky pool and the beach is only 500 meters down the path. We spent some time down at the beach and were able to regroup a bit. We might stay an extra day here. We are hoping that when the receptionist chooses to return that she can help us with a few questions regarding the area. We will see what tomorrow brings.
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