(176 m long holding 2200 passengers and 700 vehicles) and Brigitte waving us aboard!

The boat the Kalista of the Meriondale line had a very nice staff waiting and even though we had held up the departure time the staff greeted us with a smile and sent us to our little cabin with a window over the sea, fold down beds, toilet and shower room, clean and functional.

The boat crossed the Mediterranean in the night and when we woke up we were almost in Bastia, La Corse. The morning sun shining down on us with an enormous smile and the flags along the docks waving gently in the breeze.

Being a little out of season and the fact that it was Friday the 8th of May armst day in France there were no buses to take us to the first leg of our hike, most businesses were closed and the tourist office was not open either. The hostel keeper for our second night stay, Mme Paoli, had told us that she would send a car for a slight fee that would gently set us down at the trail head quel bonheur!

We sat at a caf to enjoy a quiet moment and have breakfast while waiting for our ride. The town's people were starting to meander around as they waited for the commemoration festivities to begin. People were all dressed up in their military uniforms or suits sitting at the outdoor cafs speaking Corsican and rehashing old war stories.

At precisely 9:30 am a 5 person passenger car pulled up along the curb and greeted us. A small Corsican woman with long dark hair and a glint of a smile in her eye jumped out to open the trunk, piled us into the car and rounded the bend that headed out of Bastia toward the beginning of our Mare Mare (Sea to Sea) adventures in Corse. 20 minutes into the ride she got a phone call and she replied into the phone ha, ha yes yes Madame I have picked up the package and they are riding in the car with all of their hair standing straight up as I drive! She was referring to the way she drove of course! Which was quickly, with the nose of the car directly in the rear of the car in front with small rapid movements to the right and left as she decided whether she would have time to pass the car or truck that was in front of us.

She informed us that she had another package to pick up along the way but not to worry nothing that would explode! She laughed to herself and pulled into a small residential area where she went into a locked building and came out with a plastic tub. I thought oh a guinea pig or small rodent left in the class room over the long

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