It’s Friday and it’s going to be another long bank holiday week-end. Youhou!! We’re going to head to… well somewhere… Will see.
As I was thinking of this week-end and dreaming of pristine nature, I thought of our trip to Corsica and especially the driving from Calvi to Porto. A roughly 2 hours drive, for only 74 km. The road is mostly a mountain winding road, narrow and let’s say…full of surprises…
One of the first thing I really wanted to do when we went to Corsica, was to go to the Scandalo Natural Reserve which is of course part of the UNESCO World Heritage List.
We were staying in a lovely apartment near Ile Rousse, North of Calvi and headed early in the morning to Porto. The road started as a ‘normal’ road, but as soon as we passed Calvi and reached the mountains, it became very narrow and winding.
There wasn’t much traffic and the further we were getting from Calvi, the better. The road finally reached the sea and from there continued it’s path hanged on the side of the mountain, with walls of rocks on one side and high rocky cliffs on the other side, it felt that there was no escaping, nowhere else to go than to follow the road. The view was just breathtaking…
And then suddenly, a cow appeared in the middle of the road!! Yes a cow!
What was she doing there? Where was she coming from?? No idea. But further on we realized she wasn’t alone as there were more cows either on the road, either on the side, either perched somehow in the rocks.
And on our drive back, there were some goats chilling out on the road!
Well Hello!!
I think she is head of road maintenance!
And this baby is in training!
Arriving in Porto
On the way back, arriving at Goat check point
Road security teams in action
Needless to say, that it is better to drive slowly and very carefully on such roads! I’m glad we did because we got to enjoy the drive as much as the destination.
I heard that there were also pigs, not the wild ones, the regular ones which often were spotted there.
Some locals also told us that if you have a car accident and hit a cow or something, you should cut out the hear of the animal to have a proof of the accident. Sick!! I hope it’s not true and I’m glad we didn’t have to do it.
I will soon share some of my pictures of the Scandalo reserve, but if you can’t wait to see, check out the UNESCO site: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/258/
PS1: If you’re going to hit the road this week-end, please drive safely!
PS2: Some of the above pictures are not that great as we were in the car when I took them. Sorry about that. I thought they were still fun!
Life can be tough at times, you put in the hours of work and only end up with blank stares. You know what I mean? That’s the time posts like this keep me motivated.
Enjoyed reading through this, very good stuff, appreciate it. “I will do my best. That is all I can do. I ask for your help-and God’s.” by Lyndon B. Johnson.