3/17/04 8:56 pm Calvi, Corsica 399.6mi cumulative

A "rush" to ferry, some direction-findinq difficulties in Livorno. Much more than the usual Euro-ferry loadinq confusion.

On board the ferry, the capitan conducted a life jacket drill, to test the crew. I gather it was a new capitan, and the crew didn't take him seriously at first. Finally, all the crew members (kitchen & engine room staff included) were lined up in front of the passengers--probably outnumbering the passengers) and given a loud "talking to".

We enjoyed "chatting" w. the Italians at the next table about all the confusion--as much as we could chat in a mix of Italian, French, and about 10 words of English. Much amusement.

The confusion upon loading the ferry was only exceeded by the massive ferry un-loading delay! All the passengers spent about 1:20 in the hold after we docked, waiting for them to figure out how to direct the vehicles out.

We got turned around in Bastia, then found D81 toward Calvi. It was a good rd., freshly paved...the first of many in Corsica.

Amazing scenery--like the guidebook! You could see palm trees, cactus, and snow-covered hills in a single glance.

At once point there were clouds blowing in from the sea with a horror-movie style of swirling mist. This was not fog...the road was free of fog and the air was clear to about about 10' above the ground. Directly overhead and behind there was bright sun, blue sky. To the west and above/ahead there were dense clouds & low visibility. It was like riding through a tunnel, with a solid mass of clouds forming an arch ahead of us down almost to the roadway.

As we descend 1000' from interior to coast the temp dropped ~10+ deqrees!

Coffee + tea stop in St. Florent, then scenic route (very!) to Calvi.

Entered Calvi @ sunset with Meredith zonking out from jet lag. Found a hotel w. qreat view... A good thing, as most hotels on the island were still closed for the season.

Walked around the harbor at sunset.

We ran into a Swiss/American couple who were bicycle touring with their daughter in a trailer. They normally do about 25KM a day, but that day they did about 60 (and none of it flat or straight) to get to a town with a hotel.

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