We decided to included a stopover for a short hike on our way to our third accommodation. We anticipated that this might be the last chance for us to do a hike as the weather forecast for the next days was full of rain and thunderstorms
So we stopped at the parking lot „Le Fer a Cheval“ and started our 3 miles loop towards a (sadly abandoned) Bergerie and a wooden bridge. This trail happens to be part of the famous GR20 trail, the hardest and most challenging hiking trail in Europe with a total of 111 miles. Even the French hikers who saw us hiking up the trail were impressed how well Noam and Nate met this challenge.
We rested by the bridge and enjoyed the picnic that we brought along. Reinvigorated we hiked back down towards the Cascade du Radule, a 82ft waterfall. Here‘s what so special about this waterfall: Two rock pools, one in the middle, one at the bottom of the waterfall offer a ice cold refreshment for those who dare to go in. We brought the wetsuits for the kids, which turned out to be dead right as the water was indeed freezing. You could even climb up a rock and jump into the pool from it. We all had so much fun there. As this waterfall is a little bit off the beaten path it wasn‘t very crowded. There was only one young French couple there with us. As the sky progressively darkened we decided to pack up again and head towards the car. We got a little bit wet on the last mile before the car but that did not dampen our spirits.
Early in the evening we then arrived at our third accommodation: The Chalets de Lozzis. We had booked one of the Chalets / cabins for the following three nights. The cabin and the surroundings are incredibly beautiful and very serene.
As the thunderstorms started already in the night we could not go ahead with our planned hikes: A hike though rock pools is just too dangerous with heavy rains and thunderstorms – even if the storm is a few miles away the water can rise within seconds, turning a tranquil river into roaring rapids.
So we made the most out of it and drove to the capital of Corsica, the city of Corte. At the heart of the old town of Corte towers the ancient citadel, now home to a museum about the history of Corsica. As we arrived there during lunch time, the museum was pretty much deserted. For some reasons we didn‘t even have to pay for the tickets, we have no idea why. They even have a section just for kids – which was just as empty as the rest of the museum. Which we appreciated a lot, especially with the whole Corona virus situation. And touring an old citadel is exciting for us and the kids – so definitely a win in our books.
Unfortunately the weather forecast for our last day was just as bad as the previous days so we decided to flee from the the storm and drive to the east coast of Corsica, the beach of Aléria. So we enjoyed a relaxing afternoon at the beach, with some bodyboarding for the kids, some shell collecting and some swimming near the Tour de Diana. Shortly before the thunderstorms reached the shore we got back in the car and drove back towards our cabin in the mountains. This meant driving right through the storm, which is entirely a different beast compared to the ones we have in Germany.
Today we‘re off to the west coast again, near Ajaccio. But more on that in our next blog post.
