// Trip Reports  

Report name	Fairfield High School Corsica 2008
Date submitted	Aug-08

Our aircraft banks steeply to the left, descending through ever thinning cloud. Below us lies the Cote d’azur; St.Tropez, Cannes and Juan-les-pains, each of them looking back at us through a myriad of single blue, swimming pool eyes. One more sharp turn and we are on the ground in Nice; the first leg of our journey is complete.

After two years of planning, working and fund raising, Fairfield High School are finally on their way to Corsica – the mountain in the sea.

The next stage of our journey, Nice to Calvi, involves a choppy sea crossing. Green faces watch the dolphins effortlessly cresting the white, surf capped waves. But, before too long, wobbly legs take us on the short walk to the Hotel Christophe Colomb. Its been a very long first day and we retire thankfully to our beds.

After a free morning in Calvi, a short bus ride finds us in Calenzana, the start of the famous GR20 Grande Randonee. Final planning occupies our minds before heading out for a meal in the village.

Calenzana to the Gite de Bonifatu. The weather is fantastic, not a cloud in the sky as we set out on our first day of trekking. Shaded pools of limpid green water prove perfect for cooling hot and tired limbs. The Gite offers cold cokes, shaded camping on wooded terraces and an excellent three course dinner. Everybody drifts off to an early bed after a hot and sticky first day.

The next couple of days saw us traversing, and climbing (!) through magnificent mountain scenery; scenery that changed dramatically around every crag and corner. Highlights were the “mature” bread at the Carozzu Refuge, the, for some, unnerving Passerelle suspension bridge over the yawning chasm of the Spasimata Gorge, and the Muvrella slabs; massive plates of smooth granite perched at a thought provoking angle.

After breakfast in Haut Asco, we took a couple of bus journeys to bring us to Corte, the mountain capital of Corsica. As the light fades, the Citadella, perched high above the old fortress town on a plinth of granite, is lit by a series of search lights working through the colours of the rainbow.

After a well earned rest day we head out to the Refuge A Sega, where we spent the next three nights. The Guardians, Pascal and Madam Biancardini, are wonderful hosts, plying us with delicious Corsican dishes each evening. The Refuge is idyllically situated in the Tavignanu Gorge, and offers stream pools to cool off in and lots of paths leading off in to the magnificent surroundings.

It’s day 12 and we are booked in to the Hotel HR in Corte. We, very reluctantly, say goodbye to the Biancardini’s, resolving to return some day.

The following morning we board the TGV – “train of great vibrations”; an amazing, bone shaking journey over mountains, through gorges and tunnels before plunging down to the sea at Calvi. The afternoon is spent on the beach. before In going out together for what will be our last evening meal on the island.

Our last day on the island is spent present shopping and celebrating Mr.Wright’s 50th Birthday ! Our return crossing is very smooth and we dock in Nice on time. A short walk through the interesting city takes us to our last hotel, the Kyriad Nice Gare.

An 07.00 breakfast this morning as we have to catch the first shuttle to the airport. Then we are in the air. The sixteen students and three members of staff from Fairfield, now very tanned and relaxed, chat about the amazing two weeks we have just spent on the equally amazing island of Corsica.

Three cheers for Mrs. Wright for making it all possible !

Paul Cammack - Expedition leader