Wanderings: Tram de Balagnade to Calvi

March 13, 2019

The train from Bastia follows the coast south to Cosamozza (1), where it turns inland to begin the climb up the Golo River Valley to the Junction at Ponte Leccia. The climb up the River Valley was very pleasant with rushing water with many stone bridges.

At Ponte Leccia, the one junction on the Corsican Railways, we reversed direction to climb further to the North before beginning our descent back to the sea at Ile Rousse. The railway line clung to the side of mountains. At one point we came to a halt where there was a worker doing some work on the line that appeared to be brush clearing. He had a small pallett-sized platform with railway wheels that he had taken off the tracks. I'm not sure if it was to help him carry his tools or if he could somehow hop on and ride downhill to Ile Rousse.

Ile Rousse looked like a pleasant place, so I got off intending to walk out to the Genovese Tower and The Lighthouse atop a hill on a Peninsula visible from the train. The winds were quite strong and as I begin to walk upwind with difficulty, I was assaulted by dried seaweed that was picked up and transformed by the howling winds (2) into deadly (or at least painful) projectiles. I therefore grabbed an earlier train to continue my journey to the end of the line at Calvi (3). As the single car train pulled into the station, some teenage girls got off and literally jumped into the their boyfriends arms as if they had not seen each other in years.

The ride along the coast was amazing with beaches and rocky outcropping as far as the eye could see. At one beach I actually saw a young woman in the water. While I do not know about the water temperature, the strong gale force winds would have inhibited me from swimming in the sea today. At least the swimmer was not alone; her friend was nearby (wearing a down coat).

I'm very glad I decided to go on to the end of the line at Calvi. It is a delightful city, although very quiet at this time of year. Apparently the place is jam-packed with beachgoers starting in May. The great majority of the hotels and restaurants were still closed for the winter during my visit.

The city's most prominent feature is the seaside citadel built during the years when Corsica was Genoese (4). The city claims to be the birthplace of Christopher Columbus (5). Although the historical record is ambiguous on this point, Columbus was Genoese. Behind the city and enclosing the bay, steep craggy mountains rise to over 6000 ft.

At dinner I was the only guest (6) and I did my best to keep the conversation going in French as the proprietress talked about how unusually strong the winds were. At the end of the meal they brought out some some L'eau de vie, which was some sort of hard liquor. Trying to keep the wind theme of our conversation going, I said in the best French I could muster that while the winds were very strong today, the liquor was stronger.

(1) There is frequent rush hour service from here to Bastia known as the Bastia Metro.

(2) The winds were steady at 41 knots with gusts close to 60 (strong Gale to storm Force). Méteo France issued a high wind warning cautioning people doing anything outdoors to use extra cautious today (a). I'm glad I decided to take the ferry yesterday; I'm not sure it was even running today and it would have been a very rough ride even if the ferry were running.

(a) At Calvi later in the day, I clambered out to a small rock-strewn penninsula via an overgrown path. The penninsula was exposed to the winds, which threatened multiple times to tear my mobile phone/camera out if my hands; I held on tight.

(3) The train from Ile Rousse to Calvi is known locally at the Tram de Balagnade. The train hugs the coast and is very popular with tourists in season because it stops at many beaches along the coast.

(4) The Italian state came into being in the mid 1800s. Before that time, what we know today as modern Italy was divided into various City States such as Genoa and Venice (which were fierce rivals), various Kingdoms, and of course the papal States centered in Rome and ruled by the Pope.

(5) In addition to the various hotels restaurants, cafes, and shops in every city in Corsica named Napoléon and/or Bonaparte, Calvi also has various hotels restaurants and shops named after Columbus.

(6) It was still low season and I was eating at the ungodly early hour of 7 p.m. A few other diners had come in by the time I left.