Corsica day 4: Hike to Girolata

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

We wanted to do a bigger hike this week. Eric voted on Girolata, a picturesque hamlet accessible only by foot or by boat. I didn’t realize it would be so ambitious: the hike, commonly called the chemin du facteur, is 14 kilometers total. None of it is flat.

We arrived at the starting point at 11 am. We started at the Col de la Croix, on the crest of a mountain. It's hard to miss, since there's a parking lot that even in late April was filling up with cars. It was 3 km downhill to the first little beach, the plage de Tuara. The kids were in high spirits. Ivy walked a bit but rode in the Ergo most of the time.

We stopped near a stream and footbridge for lunch. My hiking sandals started to come apart, and I seriously considered turning back because I didn’t know if they would hold up for 11 more kms. But I really wanted to do the whole hike. So on we went!

After Tuara beach, the path splits: one side goes up and over the back of the mountain, while the other follows the coastline along the cliffs. We chose the mountain path for the approach to Girolata.

Seeing the village for the first time at the crest of the mountain was stunning. It has maybe a few dozen buildings at most, a protected bay, and a hill with a fortified tower. The colors were also striking: red rock, vivid green fields and grass around the village (one of the few flat spots on this side of the island!), and blue water.

We were hoping to wade or swim at the beach in Girolata, but it was very windy and the water had lots of debris. We ate a snack next to a gîte d’étape that had a very crunchy vibe. Also saw lots of unleashed dogs wandering around. They looked well taken care of, so they probably belonged to people in the village. The kids also tried to pet a village cat, but it kept evading them

Playing foosball after we bought some band-aids for Zari's feet (her hiking sandals were starting to rub)

We took the cliffside path on the way back to the first beach. It was scary for the kids in a few places, as we had to scramble up and down rocks and sometimes there were very sharp drop-offs.

Last views of Girolata bay

The kids said they were cold. I think it was an excuse to play in Eric's jacket.

We stopped for a while at the first beach. I nursed Ivy and let her snooze for a while. Dio and Zari chased waves while Inga played in the sand and rocks.

From this beach back to our car was uphill all the way. The kids were amazing, with very few complaints and unflagging energy. We had lots of stops to see lizards, though.

The hike to Girolata and back took us 6 hours (3 ½ - 4 according to the guidebooks). Zari was very impressed with how far and how long we walked: 14 kilometers, 550 meters total vertical climb and descent. I was impressed too!

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Corsica day 3: Tête du Chien, Piana, Ficajola

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

We started off with more rain, and 3 loads of now soaking-wet laundry that I had to put back into the washer to spin dry. I finally put the drying rack inside the house because we weren’t sure when the rain would let up. Eric saw blue sky off to the west/south, so we headed towards Piana after an early lunch.

We first stopped to hike at the Tête du Chien, a short, fun hike climbing up and down a rocky path that ends at a natural rock formation called the "château fort" (fortress).

Tête du Chien = dog's head. See it?

That's our car in the foreground: a 2005 Opel Zafira. A bit beat-up but it runs well and seats 7 people.

The hike was supposed to take an hour round-trip, and I think we did it faster than that. Ivy walked with me most of the day and went in the Ergo on the way back. It ended at the edge of a huge outcropping—kind of like an enormous spine the size of a mountain. Amazing views.

See the château fort?

Next, we drove to see Piana (elevation 438 meters), rated one of the most beautiful villages in France. Unlike Porto, which is comprised of hotels and not much else, this was a real village where people actually live. It’s near the top of a rounded mountain overlooking a dramatic fall to the sea.

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We wandered around the village. The most interesting thing for the kids was a family of horses. After I pointed out the mama, papa, and baby horse, Ivy kept saying “moi, baby cheval. Toi, mama cheval.”

Next up: a harrowing drive down the D624 to the Plage de Ficajola.

It’s 4 kilometers (but feels much longer) of a single-width road switchbacking down the side of the mountain. No guard rails and steep drop-offs and a 16% grade. Eek!

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I was gripping my door handle the whole way down. But breath-taking views! Wow! Red rocks in steep needle spires, plunging straight down hundreds of meters to the ocean.

The road ends at a parking lot and then there’s a hike to get down to the beach. Almost all the coastline here is steep cliffs or mountains, so the occasional beach is a rare find. This one had sand (large grains, so easy to clean up). When we arrived, there was only one other family. But by time we left, it was filling up with similarly adventuresome people.

I watched after all the kids while Eric went spearfishing. The ocean was very rough, so I was stressed the whole time making sure all the kids were safe and worrying about Eric. I know it doesn’t do any good, but I can’t help it.

At one point Ivy nearly got pulled into the water because of a rogue wave. It wasn’t that dangerous, but deep enough that it was just about to knock her over. I grabbed her arm and pulled her higher up the beach. Then the water came up even higher, splashed right over Inga, and pushed her against a rock.

Sad Inga.

So we moved our things farther up the beach!

Eric came back disappointed : he saw lots of big fish but didn’t hit anything. The water was full of fish eggs. There were huge areas floating on the surface that looked like dirty foam, but he said it was all eggs.

We reversed our adventures to go home: drive back up the crazy narrow road, through Piana, along the magnificent D81 with its panoramic vistas...

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...past the Tête du Chien, and back down to Porto.

We got home around 4:30. I prepared curry & rice and fresh bread. We ate outside because voila! the sun finally peeked out. It was cool but comfortable in the sun.

Now everyone is in bed, and Eric is hoping to catch a soccer match at 9pm.

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Corsica day 2: Rainy day in Porto and Bussaglia

Monday, April 27, 2015

Rain was forecast all day, and unfortunately it was accurate. Mostly it was drizzling or sprinkling, with brief downpours and occasional blue sky peeking through.

We went down to old part of Porto right on the sea and explored the little beach next to the hill & fortress. Eric slipped on some big rocks and fell into a pool of stagnant water. The kids thought that was hilarious. Then we walked up to the beginning of the path to the fortress, but decided to do it another day because of the rain. A big thunderstorm caught us, so we stood underneath the umbrellas of a store until it lightened up.

We ran back to the car and stopped to buy groceries on the way home. They cost 50-100% more than in Nice. Yikes. We had lunch and then I tried to get Ivy down for a nap, but there was too much noise from the other kids. So I gave up.

We went swimming at the hotel’s pool across the street. It was a heated pool, but still not very warm. I was hoping to teach Inga how to swim but she was not very interested in learning. Ivy is fearless and might be able to learn as fast as Inga! Hot bath after swimming for 4 very happy but cold children.

Eric was eager to try out the spearfishing, so we went to a nearby beach called Bussaglia. It had small rocks, a bit smaller than the beach at Nice.

Someone’s German Shepherd followed us all the way to the very end of the beach. It was a very friendly dog, always wanting to chase after a stick. Finally its owner came and brought him back.

The kids enjoyed climbing on the rocks, exploring some caves (shallow ones) at the top of the beach, and playing with various treasures and objects.

I took pictures of the kids...

Inga is sometimes a loner, often off in her own world, playing by herself.

She wants to wear this brown polka-dot dress every day. I throw it into the wash to force her to wear something else.

Dio still has his dimple and those gorgeous light blue eyes

Zari's hair is down to her waist now.

Ivy brings us so much joy

Eric caught a big crab but wasn’t sure what it was, so he put it back. He looked it up later in the evening and found it was an araignée de mer and very delicious to eat. He will head back out for more when the sea is calm enough.

The kids would have climbed on the rocks all day

Wisteria is in bloom. I took this pictures as we were getting in the car.

I made a mushroom/white wine/sausage risotto with a tarte au chocolat for dessert. We sang happy birthday to Dio (his birthday was yesterday). He’s super happy with his birthday present from us and my mom: a remote-controlled helicopter.

This is my favorite photo from our day's outing: it captures the grandeur and scale of Corsica--and our wild, independent Inga

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Corsica day 1: Ferry ride, drive through the mountains

Hello everyone! We just spent a week in Corsica and didn't have easy email access in our place. I'm copying from my journal to save some time :)

I knew very little about Corsica, other than that it belonged to France (but used to be part of Italy) and that it was a large, mountainous island.

Corsica is wild and magnificent and stunning. It has a grandeur and scale rivaling, often exceeding, that of the Canadian Rockies.

So let's turn to our first day: taking the 6-hour ferry to Corsica and driving 3 hours through the mountains:

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Sunday, April 26, 2015

We packed and cleaned all day Saturday and all morning on Sunday. We got off plenty early, with time to pick up some food for the long boat ride. The kids were quite excited to go on the ferry.

I was used to the smaller ferries that run between Duluth and Madeleine Island, so this one was a surprise. I was expecting rows of benches and 5 ½ hours of bored children. Instead, there were several decks of various lounge and activity spaces, from an open-air deck with a pool (freezing cold water, though) to several restaurant/bar areas, to couches, to game rooms.

We spent almost the whole time in the family room; it had a ball pit and climbing gym. The kids played and climbed and ran for over 5 hours straight, with breaks to only eat dinner and go pee. So the ferry ride went quickly.

I was hoping they would be completely exhausted and sleep once we started driving from Bastia to Porto, but no luck. The drive took 3 hours, even longer than anticipated.

At first it was pretty quick going, even when we headed into the mountains. But after we passed Francardo and turned onto the D84, the road turned narrow and winding. We could go no faster than 30-40 kms/hr the rest of the way.

And of course, the puking started. 3 big pukes in a row, starting with Inga and then Ivy and then Zari. Ivy puked a few more times total. I think it was 5 total but I lost count.

We arrived at 10:45 pm. We’re in an apartment at the bottom floor of a hotel. We have two large terraces and a garden.

This picture was taken a different day, obviously!! 

And a magnificent view of the valley and mountains.



The sea is just a kilometer away, not quite visible from our place but visible from a higher story in the hotel.



The apartment is bare-bones: white tile floors, the cheapest, most minimal furnishings, a kitchen with mismatched glasses and plates. No chopping knives, no cutting board, lots of things missing from the appliances. There’s a food processor minus the motor part, and a mixer minus the motor part.

There are 2 bedrooms: Zari, Dio, and Inga are a the large one with a double bed and a twin bed. We put Ivy in with us. We got the kids to bed after midnight, since they had a rush of energy and decided they needed a snack. We fell into bed right around 1 am. Ivy slept until 6:30 am, and I couldn’t get her back to sleep after that.

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