[Sept. 2007] This is a story when I went to Corsica, France, on a walking tour organized by a British company.
The day after we settled down in Calvi, a town in the northwestern part of the island, we started walking.
First, climb to the chapel, Notre Dame de la Serra, at the top of the mountain behind the town of Calvi, which faces the sea.
The distance from Calvi was about 1.5 km, and according to the programme from the tour company, the height difference was about 250 metres.
We didn’t enter this chapel, which has a history of about 500 years, but the view of the town of Calvi was the best from here.
The weather was not good, but it was worth the effort to climb.
There is a legend in this chapel: if you visit here with the love of your life, two of you can live happy days for a long time.
Unfortunately, this time I came on a tour with my friends, so I didn’t benefit from it.
A statue of Maria stood on the rock.
For me, it was a great effort to have climbed up to this point, but walking was just the beginning.
The lighthouse called Ravellata Lighthouse, which looked small far away from here, was the destination of the day.
According to the plan, the total distance is 12 km, but when a member of the tour measured it with a measuring instrument through the satellite, it was 14 km.
It was almost downhill from here, and there were interesting looking rocks along the way, and the colour of the sea was wonderful, so walking was not so painful.
However, what I found out when I started walking was that it was a big mistake to underestimate the elderly walkers.
The old men and old women who participated in this tour were all very strong and I was very surprised.
They walk quite fast, and I tried my best to keep up with everyone.
I also found that walking itself seemed to be their purpose, not to see the scenic scenery like I did, or to get somewhere.
They were peculiar people.
Eating was not their purpose of their holiday, either and we had to bring our own sandwiches for lunch.
It’s not bad to have a picnic in the pleasant outside air, but I wanted to go into a village restaurant and eat local food.
Well, we finally arrived at the lighthouse.
From here, I could see the lovely coastline around here.
We took a break on the beach next to it.
I soaked my tired feet in the sea to heal my tiredness.
And the beer I drank back in Calvi was absolutely delicious!
I would never walk 14 kilometers in my daily life, so I was impressed with myself, completing this walk.
For dinner at the Santa Maria restaurant that evening, I ate Corsican speciality, wild boar meat.
The herbs they used for cooking added the lovely taste and the meat was delicious.
A show of the polyphony of Corsica music (male a cappella chorus) was the entertainment at night.
