Day Eight: The Devils' Road to Corte

Monday dawned hot and clear, yesterdays' threat of thunderstorms a distant memory. We revelled in the view from the hotel out over the valley.

We opted out of the regimented, expensive hotel breakfast and stopped for coffer and juice at the cafe at the bottom of the hill. Glad we didn't walk down last night, as it was some distance.

Then back on the bikes to begin the days ride - down the valley and through the Gorges of the river Gollo. Another spectacular ride beckoned, the last time we did this on a dull day - the sun smiled on us this year. The road (D218) passes close to the dam just below the village and we stopped for a photo. Then rode on through the Défilé de la Scala di Santa Regina. It's described as  " a dramatic route that meanders through a deep rocky granite gorge eroded by the lively waters of the Golo torrent, offering an unforgettable experience of an untamed Corsican wilderness". It's a wild, inhospitable terrain, pierced by the narrow and heroic D84 which winds down the gorge with the high mountains crowding in. The guide says "It is whispered that if the island of beauty is the work of God, La Scala would be the Devil's part".

So it's a massively popular road and carries a surprising amount of traffic for a Monday morning - scary in part, as in many places the road twists and turns and you can't see far ahead or what's coming behind. The motorbikers and drivers seem to take that as a challenge to see how fast and reckless they can be.

It's a pretty flat ride as you gently descend the gorge. We rode along the D84 from Calacuccia for about 22km before the Gorge opened up at the Ponte Castirla, We crossed the "Pont du Diable" with a sense of achievement and some relief ! A map stop confirmed that we needed to follow the D18 to Corte to avoid the main road. Almost immediately we were climbing, climbing steeply to the village and church of Castirla that overlooks the confluence below. By now, it is very hot..... at the top we stopped to refresh and take in the views. Linda had a problem with the bike - the saddle was steadily slipping more and more to point downwards. It was ridable - just. So we texted Appbike for help and they sent instructions how to fix it. Basically said this is what you need to do, but if you cant shift the bolts then go to this place in Corte.

So we toughed it out as we did not have far to go. Thankfully, after that the road descends gently down to Corte. More wonderful mountain valley views, especially as Corte came into sight, dominating the valley from it's rocky outcrop. There was blessedly little traffic on this lovely little road - we hardly met anyone until we arrived in the town.

The Hotel de l'Paix was close to the entrance to town, pretty central yet in a quiet secluded square. A lovely old (1930's) building. Check in opened at 3pm but we were able to leave our bags and change in the rest room, so we were well set up and ready for lunch and an afternoon exploring Corte.

We walked up the main busy main street (Corte really only has one, where it seems all the shops, bars, eateries and traffic congregate. Eventually we settled down for lunch at La Trattoria and ordered beers and salad. The beers came quickly, but they forgot our order and had to be reminded.

When the salads came, they were definitely worth the wait - goat cheese salad and a Vietnamese chicken 'bo bun' and nem that was super good.

We went back to the hotel and took Linda's bike for a short walk to 'Kick Moto' where a smile and a torque wrench worked wonders, making the very depressed saddle - and us

happy again.

By then it was 3pm pronto and we checked in to a very decent toom with balcony and great views over the mountains, albeit a bit noisy as there was nothing between us and the bypass about half a mile away. So, habit kicked in and we chilled out in the room until it was time to venture out for the evening. We walked all the way up to the Place Pascal Paoli - a big square at the top of town with a big statue of the man. We ate in the Brasserie Pascal Paoli - we shared a 'duo' de terrine, then both had burgers. We ate out on the terrasse, along with most other people. The latest thing is parasols that have fans that release a fine, cooling mist. Perhaps humanity will survive global warming ! The town was buzzing with happy, well fed and watered people. People watching made a pleasant change from our run of quiet mountain stays. We stopped for coffees at a convivial bar then walked the short distance to our hotel. Another memorable day.