From the island to the Alps

After 5 weeks for Jay and 2 for Jennie, it was time to leave Corsica, but not quite time to go home. We planned to spend a few days in the Alps with our friends, the Schrumpf family. However, travel to and from Corsica is never quick or simple! After returning the Renault Kangoo that Jay had been driving, we took the Corsica train (called the TGV-Train of Great Vibration by our European friends) to catch our ferry. At this flag stop for the train, you have to wave the train down by standing in the tracks and waving your arms around so they stop for you.

The Corsica train is an experience! It's an ancient narrow gauge train that audibly shifts gears while going up and down very steep grades. It is also smelly (both people and lots of clouds of diesel smoke) and above all HOT. Still, it was a beautiful journey to the port city of Bastia, on Corsica's NE coast. Bastia is the second busiest passenger port in France (after Calais) and from there we could catch a ferry to Italy (to get to the village in the Alps it was much faster and simpler to take the train through Italy instead of France). Fortunately, we had frozen a water bottle before we left Piriu. Here Jay is savoring the last bit of ice that was floating in the bottle!
One of the ferry Unions is quite keen on striking routinely during the high season. This group of demostrators were blocking the car traffic onto the ferry by lighting fireworks inside on the car deck. This made for a rather noisy and exciting time until they ran out of fireworks and the captain got feed up with them. Neither the employees nor the police seemed to concerned and seemed to just be waiting for them to leave. Below you can see cars starting to push threw the now unarmed crowd to get on board.
After the excitement, we had our breakfast and read the paper while waiting for our ferry to arrive...
The town of Bastia is the second largest in Corsica, and very much a busy port and industrial town. It was heavily bombed by the Allies during WWII, after the American forces had taken the southern part of the island. Tragically, the bombing campaign took place hours after the Italian and German forces had already left the island, but the allies bombed the city believing them to still be holding it. Many buildings still display visible signs of having been bombed.

Corsica is also the birthplace of Napoleon, after whom there are many streets and buildings made. This statue of Napoleon in the largest city square is interesting as it depicts him as a Roman Emperor...interesting.

Jay on the ferry from Bastia to Genova

In Genova we stayed at the Columbus Sea Hotel (everything in Genova seems to be named after Columbus...or a saint), which is right in the middle of about the largest port I have ever seen, or at least been in the middle of. It was full of passenger ships and cargo heading to every imaginable town in Europe and North Africa...from Bergen to Tunis! It was quite a show to watch the activity. We didn't have much time in Genova, but we managed to squeeze in a walk around the port area as well as a cappucino and a gelato. We also picked up an Italian vocabulary of about 10 words (Buon Giorno (good morning)! Avanti (go)! Grazie (thanks)! pesca(peach)...limone (lemon)...binari(train platform)...Francia(France)...trenitalia(Italian train)). Jay is also very proud to have been hit (backed into at low speed in the middle of the street...no injury!) by a fiat while in Italy. :-)
After our train trip from Genova to Torino and finally to Oulx in the Italian Alps, we were picked up by our friends, the Schrumpfs! Caroline lived with my family for a year when I was in 7th grade, and the following two years, when we lived in Holland, we went to visit her regularly in Paris. Now I don't get to see her as often, but it's always great when I get to visit her or when she comes to the US. Two years ago when we first went to Corsica, Jay and I stayed with them for a week in Poissy, near Paris. They just moved to Nantes, but were on vacation in the Alps at the same time we were leaving Corsica. As always, it was wonderful to visit them! Our first day there we went for a walk up the valley near the village. Here's Caroline, her fabulous "mouflon" (mountain goat) husband, Alain, and their three terrific kids!
The Schrumpfs' chalet in the beautiful village of Puy St Vincent (Alain grew up skiing and mountain climbing in this same village with his family).

Here's the view from the chalet! Amazing.

Caroline is a pastor in the French Reformed Church, and with her we visited this church in a remote valley in the village of Les Viollins. They were having a harvest festival while we were there and we also had the opportunity to learn a lot (from Caro) about the fascinating history of the valley (Freissiniers valley).

Having a picnic along the river near the village...

After the picnic, we all decided to go for a hike up to a village (Dormiouillse) that is not accessible by road. Here's Alain and Eleonore on the trail.
Since it was a very hot day it was great to cross this waterfall about halfway up!



Dormiouillse has a tiny chapel and also a building that was originally a school for teachers, the first in this area.

It's not everyday (at least here in the northwest) that you hike up a mountain for a couple hours and then find at the top...a bar! Actually, it's really a restaurant (still very odd), but do to its remote location and the need of pack animals for resupplying, they were out of everything except wine, beer, some other drinks, and omelettes. Here I am with Alain and Gilles, another pastor on vacation who we met that morning, trying a local beer.

Jay and I on the way down (different trail going down)

The view back towards Dormioullse on the way down

Jay admires the view...

After we left the Schrumpfs at the train station in Oulx, Italy, we began the loooong trip home. In this case, made extra long by quite the long hot train saga through Italy (which involved some running and rebooking of tickets etc) as well as an unplanned long layover at London's Heathrow airport. Upon learning that it was chilly (60), gray and drizzly in London we decided to take the tube to Leicester Square instead of hanging around the airport...good decision! We had a fabulous jacket potato for cheap at a pub and enjoyed some great people watching. Here I am enjoying the weather after three weeks of HOT HOT HOT! :-) We've returned home to near record heat, but right now 90 degrees feels downright manageable, scarey!