L'Île-Rousse 1

The stretch of coast between Calvi and L'Île-Rousse was the most beautiful that I had seen on this trip. I sat on the left of the train to have views to the sea. Here we are passing the Plage de Ghjunchitu, which is rendered as Ghjorghju on the station sign. I suspect the former is the Corsican name, but I'm not sure. It looks like there is a lot more beauty for me to discover in Corsica that warrants another trip and a different means of transport. Funny, islands are like that.

The sort of scenery I was seeing along the track.

What more could you ask for?

I want a holiday here, six months at a time, twice a year. 😄

We arrived at Île-Rousse station. It's all very open here, the tracks run through the town, alongside the beach. Traffic isn't so heavy that the townsfolk are bothered by it. In fact, they probably love their trains to bits.

Trundling my wheeled suitcase along the esplanade I was going wow! at the colour of the water.

Ooh, that turquoise colour.

The esplanade that I was on.

I found my hotel, which was a stone's throw from the beach. It was a very good choice, fairly modern, and the facilities were spanking new. It was a bit pricey but I completely felt it was worthwhile.

Calvi 3

The train from Calvi back to Bastia only ran twice a day, either just before 7 in the morning and 1533 in the afternoon. However the section between Calvi and L'Île-Rousse, the Balagne suburban line, ran 7 times a day this time of year. I decided to take the one at 1333, just after lunch. I could leave my luggage at the hotel after checking out after breakfast.

I decided to explore the west of Calvi where the road leads to a peninsula jutting out north. I would not be able to walk that far, but I wanted to go as far as I could.

Looking back from a car park off the Rte de Porto at the hotels to the north of Calvi town. You can just make out the Plage du Roncu at the right of the photo.

Panning a bit to the right, the road I walked on, and the citadel in a long shot.

To the left you can see the rocky peninsula. From the map I can see that there are no access roads on the peninsula, only walking tracks. Some dive sites are also named on the map.

And in the middle distance, the shoreline.

A panorama to the east.

And one to the west.

There's a monument just in front of the car park. It memorialises the 417 passengers (of 519) who died when their steamship travelling between Marseille and Calvi was torpedoed by a German submarine on 15-16 August 1918. You can find it listed on this page under Balkan.

A telephoto shot of the Faro della Revellata at the tip of the peninsula.

A bit further down the coast road, I wandered down a driveway leading to holiday homes. I took a photo and turned around.

Back in Calvi town, the red crab on the wall caught my eye.

I bought a pan bagnat for lunch at a shop, retrieved my baggage from the hotel reception and walked to the station.

Here's the train arriving at Calvi Talle stop to take me to the next stop on my adventures, L'Île-Rousse.

Calvi 2

In the late afternoon, I walked the short distance from the old town to the citadel. The motto above the entrance states that Calvi was always loyal to Genoa. The sign with the number 1 is presumably for leaflets, signs and audio guides.

At a rampart was this great view of the bay and backing mountains.

And the marina.

Zooming in.

Both together now.

The prosumer camera does a skinnier view.

The small Piazze d'Armee.

Looking downhill from where I came.

I tried hard to follow the order of the numbers for the sights but wasn't always able to.

I reached the northern walk and took this view of the entrance to the bay and the mountain ranges.

A map to help visitors identify the peaks behind the Bay of Calvi.

Another one of those space bending panoramas.

Looking to the west you can see the expansion of the town in that direction for tourist accommodation.

Leaving the citadel by the steps.

A peek through a cross-lane at the harbour at twilight.

Colourful produce.

A wine store.

This was taken at the Super U supermarket about 1 km outside the city. I was very impressed by the range of goods for what seems to be a small city.

It had even goods like computer tablets and furniture. I think there are quite a few well-to-do people living around Calvi, enjoying the superb surroundings.

Back in town, I decided to try some local cuisine at a restaurant just outside my hotel. The entree of mussels.

The main of fettuccini and clams.

A small dessert to finish off.

And that was the end of a very satisfactory full day in Calvi.

Calvi's airport is only 6 km outside the city and many seasonal flights serve it. A desirable destination. A rental car to explore the mountainous interior and highly indented coast, like I did with Sardinia would be a better itinerary that the one I had. But the first time I wanted to see all the main cities.

Calvi 1

The train left Ajaccio at 0741 arriving at Calvi just after midday. Again we had to pass through Ponte Leccia in the middle of Corsica. The B&B owner had kindly prepared a packed breakfast for me to eat on the train.

Wait, where's May 2? I checked into my Calvi hotel but before lunch it started bucketing down. So I stayed in my room and ate the remainder of my breakfast. By dinnertime it was still raining so I just stayed indoors and finished all the food with me.

So I have only 3 photos from May 2, all taken along the rail line or near Calvi station. I've decided to include them ahead of the photos for May 3 otherwise it will be a short post.

As you can see the sky was gloomy. But the photos later will make up for this. And there will be a lot, as Calvi is very photogenic. In fact I would say, if you want good scenery in Corsica, don't bother with Bastia or Ajaccio, go straight to Calvi and L'Île-Rousse.

My plan for the morning was to explore the old town and then walk along the water for as far as it looked interesting.

As my hotel was just steps away from the main street the first goal was easy. But the day before it had taken me a bit of searching to find the hotel entrance as the maps were inadequate.

The entrance was in fact up some stairs to the right of the Sainte Marie Church.

The harbour is a few steps downhill through a cross-lane. The port is east-facing and the long bay is north-facing.

It is lined with bars and restaurants as you would expect. But also dive shops. I saw quite a few people indulging in the sport. In the distance you can see the citadel.

A telephoto shot of the citadel.

Walking along the marina.

The morning was cool but it looked like it would warm up.

I took a fancy to these blossoms.

Some panoramas of the area.

At this point the marina becomes a car park. The Calvi train station is around here, but as the last km or so of track was under maintenance, we were set down at the previous station, Calvi Talle, and passengers walked the last km into town. Services would also depart from there for the foreseeable future.

A telephoto shot of the citadel.

What a great colour the water is.

A breakwater.

Looking at the beach from the breakwater.

It's a long and attractive beach.

There was snow on the distant peaks.

I reached the Calvi Talle station and looked back on the town.

A beach bar. I found a bench and ate my lunch. Some panoramas.

For lunch I went to a well-reviewed pizzeria and had an anchovy pizza.

Accompanied by a bottle of Pietra, a local beer. It contains chestnuts and the brewery is not as old as I thought, only since 1996.