Corte to Cozzano

May 2, 2025

Our student-type apartment in Corte was stuffy overnight. With no AC, I wouldn’t want to be here in summer. But it had convenient car parking and a garage for Mel’s bike. A sticker at the hotel entrance confirmed that they welcomed cyclists. And from the looks of the motorbikes in the courtyard, they’re welcome too.

We noticed this morning that the cover was off the hotel’s swimming pool. May 1 brings lots of changes here.

The hotel breakfast looked a bit lame - just bread/croissants plus cereal and milk. So we popped over to a nearby cafe for coffee and pastries. I was happy to see they sold the tartes aux herbes that I’d enjoyed last night so along with breakfast, I bought one to take on my hike.

One thought on the people of Corsica - we had been warned that they don’t have a reputation for friendliness. But I’ve got to say that we’ve encountered nothing but welcoming and friendly people.

After Mel departed on her long ride to Cozzano, I left the hotel on foot for a hike up the Tavignano valley. Despite completing a steep uphill section yesterday, my hamstring was feeling pretty good. It seems to like activity more than being sedentary. I had an easy start through the edge of town and then along a lesser-used path next to the river. It got a bit sporty in a couple of places, but a chain helped. After a short hike up a steep slope, I was on the main marked trail and things got easier.

The trail was fairly busy with walkers, overnight hikers, and even a couple of trail runners. I chatted with a young couple from Paris who were also thrilled with the views. They reported that Corsicans have a different accent than Paris, but it’s not hard to understand.

As I’ve come to expect from Corsica, the views were fabulous. I walked almost 13 km in the end, which is the longest I’ve done here.

It was nice to start my hike along the shady river.

This abandoned house has some stories to tell.

Up in the main trail, I could finally see a long way.

On my return trip down the valley, I made a lunch stop at the lone picnic table along the trail. this was our hottest day yet, probably around 25 C, and the shade was nice. I ate my tarte aux herbes, which in English would probably be called a spinach (or chard) and herb turnover. It was a great trail snack.

There are some very specific details on this war memorial. I don’t recall ever seeing that before.

I started my drive to Cozzano a little after 2 pm. The drive took me over two cols, so I got to see the impressive climbing that Mel did today with the sun beating down. The Col de Sorba at 1311 m came first, then the Col de Verde is at 1289 m, with a huge drop to Ghisoni in between. Today’s roads weren’t just curvy, they had full on switchbacks where I was down to first gear.

Lucky for both Mel and me, there wasn’t as much traffic today. I reached the Col de Sorba at nearly the same time as two road bikers. I passed them, but soon realized that they were wanting to descend faster than my top speed of 50 km/h. So I pulled over and let them by. Zoom - they were flying.

Mel climbed over 2000 m today and reports that some of it was due to a navigation issues where she descended more than necessary. That always hurts. She also crossed over the GR20 route again.

While descending from the Col de Verde I encountered a motorcycle accident just after a bridge. Of course, this incident had happened in the only place in all of Corsica without cell service. It was a French man and women on one motorbike. They didn’t have terrible injuries - no blood, but he was badly injured enough to need an ambulance. They spoke English, as did another motorist who was going in the opposite direction and stopped at almost the same time as me. At their request, I drove down until I got cell service, then called 112. And I reached the only person on this island who doesn’t speak English. So I used my French, and miraculously he understood. He said the incident had already been reported to him - it turns out Mel had biked by just minutes before me. She had called 112, and also another motorist had l called it in. I returned to the incident site to let them know that the ambulance was on its way, since nobody else had done that. We later saw both the ambulance and a police car heading to the site. It occurred to me that I hadn’t seen a police officer since I’ve been here. I can check that off my list now, along with having called 112. Interesting fact - it’s the fire service (pompiers) who seem to field all the emergency calls.

We’re staying in Cozzano, a very small community with one bar/coffee shop. We have a nice little one bedroom place that’s a step up from the bare bones apartment in Corte. It’s my turn for the pullout couch tonight. The owner says the wifi gets wiped out every time there’s a thunderstorm. So no blog update today. The guest book shows that there was someone else here last night (May 1), but before that, the last guests were in December.

The only cafe/restaurant/bar in town. Very good!

We had a nice cold beer at that one bar in town, then bought a few breakfast things at the small grocery store across the street. It’s a tiny village, so we walked the 150 m or so back to our apartment and did laundry while waiting for the bar’s restaurant to open at 7:30.

A new chip flavour for us - fromage de Jura. Very tasty. Think gruyere or compte. Better than our generic ‘cheez’ flavours in North America.

Dinner was an absolutely delicious burger with caramelized onions and Corsican cheese, plus salad, and fries.

Having had our beer earlier, we just had water to drink. And what a delight it is to be on an island that happily provides tap water.

There are loads of friendly cats and dogs here.

We were early to bed, since without internet there was no being distracted by web surfing or blogging.

Today's ride: 93 km (58 miles)
Total: 477 km (296 miles)

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