Driving the D81

We tend not to have the best of luck when finding places to stay without any research beforehand. Roussillon was a bit pricey. Moustiers was awesome, and had the best breakfast thus far in France (or Corsica), around Uzes was ridiculously difficult, so we ended up staying in an expensive hotel. In Corsica we had no major problems in Corte or Calvi. I was concerned that problems would arise in Galeria however because we got there as it was getting late and the tourist season is pretty much over. The first chambres d’hote sign we saw led us straight to the place (we have had problems with signs going no where), and they were open! Success! This place had the friendliest cat I have come across. It was determined to come into our room and prevented Daniel tying his shoelaces. Then at breakfast we had a mournful eyed German Shepard at our feet. Then the cat came back and tried to sit on Daniel while he was finishing his croissant.

Weset off to drive the D81 from Calvi, through Porto and Piana, and through the Calanques (rock formations), on a fairly windy road. We had been initiated the day before however, so this felt pretty wide and luxurious. We laughed at the Chaussée déformer signs we saw, no one bothered with the signs for the roads we were on yesterday which were 100 times worse. On the ferry over we saw a lot of rally cars, which we saw on this road, thankfully going the other way, as they were fairly speedy. We also saw a crash (after the fact), in which one car had misjudged a corner and had gone into the stone wall barrier. Good thing there was a barrier, as the sides are pretty steep.

There were cows all over the place too. They tended to be on the side of roads, not the middle, but it was still a bit concerning. They were also very skinny. I wondered how the owner ever found them again as they didn’t have bells and they could roam wherever. Then I saw this fellow, who was stopping at every cow and giving them hay. I guess he is either the owner or a concerned citizen. They were pretty skinny.

It is common practice in Corsica to stop your car in the middle of the road while you hop out and do stuff, as long as you have your hazards on. You either backup the traffic for a few minutes, or everyone edges past you

The Genoese tower by Porto

After Porto the vista started getting quite impressive and we were stopping the car every few minutes to gape. There was a short walk we took to one of the rock formations, which was quite stupendous. There was also a nice breeze coming straight up off the water, so it was a nice place to sit, despite the sun.

Daniel eating his petite buerre biscuits (these have been quite a mainstay for us)

On the edge

Mostly the cars were protected from the sheer drops by the stone barriers

We saw a few buses on the road, letting off their horn before a corner. A freaky sight as they take up the whole road when turning. We were confronted once on a corner, without the foghorn warning for some reason. Arggh! Daniel immediately tries to back up but we see the bus driver laughing at us and motioning us forward into the wee gap he has left. Gave us the sweats that did.

Finishing off the €5 Corsican wine we bought in Galeria. This was in Piana after the majority of the twistiness was behind us